Ripple Effect
by Kadi219
Summary: [Raydor/Flynn] Like tossing a pebble into a pond, one decision can cause ripples across an entire life. A/U. What if Jack had only been a footnote, and not a prominent chapter in Sharon's life? Rated for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

 **A/N:** The question has been asked by a lot of people, _what if_ , they had found each other a lot earlier. I know I've asked it in a couple of my past stories. Would Shandy still be Shandy if they started a lot earlier? What kind of life would they have had? Would Andy still be making up for his mistakes and would Sharon have still been stuck with an alcoholic for a husband? I decided to find out. This is completely A/U and does not follow any canon. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

It didn't rain often in Los Angeles, but when it did, the skies would open and the roads would flood. It had been a week of constant onslaught. A long, miserable week of gray skies, slick roads, car accidents, and traffic jams. The rain was enough to piss him off, but being an hour late to work for the third day in a row put Andy Flynn in a truly foul mood.

He was surly and brooding for the rest of the day. It was one of those times when he was glad that their current case didn't have a lot of leads, he wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone anyway, least of all some dirt bag that would deserve having Andy's foot shoved up his ass. It was the sort of day when those around him knew to keep their distance.

Another long drive home had done nothing to alleviate the dark cloud that was circulating around him. By the time he was safely ensconced with his solitude, his bad mood had produced a hell of a headache. He was thinking about taking a shower and pouring himself into bed, but sat staring at the news instead. His recliner was comfortable enough.

Andy had tossed his jacket onto the couch, kicked off his shoes, and loosened his tie. He did little else besides roll up his sleeves. He figured he could stay right where he was for the rest of the night. If he happened to fall asleep there, well, so be it. He didn't have anything better to do.

It had been a piss poor week and it didn't look as though it would be getting any better anytime soon. Andy settled back in his recliner and curled an arm behind his head. He stared at the ceiling while the news droned on. He was only just beginning to doze off when a knock at his door pulled him out of his semi-calm state.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered. Andy pulled himself out of the recliner with a sigh. He decided, as he made his way to the door, that if it was Provenza, he would give that old bastard hell. Who he found on the other side of his door was a far cry from his partner-turned-boss. Andy drew back, far too surprised to recall that he was aggravated at the intrusion. "Sharon."

Her dark coat was wrapped tightly around her. A manila envelope was clutched against her chest. She wasn't sure what she expected. It had been a while since she saw him, a few years, to be honest. He looked good, despite what the kids said about his recent health issues. It was supposed to be under control now, and she supposed that was true from the look of him. "Andy." She rubbed her lips together. "May I come in?"

He blinked at her. Part of him was still not convinced that she was standing there. Andy shook his head to clear it. "Yeah. Sure." He took a step back and pulled the door open with him. "Come on." He waited until she had slipped past him and the familiar scent of her perfume was filling the foyer of the house before he recalled how unusual this was. It brought a frown to his brow. "What are you doing here?"

"I think that would be obvious, don't you?" Sharon held the manila envelope between them. "What did you think I was going to do, Andy?" Her brows lifted in askance. "We've been married for thirty-two years, despite how much of that we've spent apart, I would think that we both deserve more than to receive divorce papers via Fed-Ex."

Andy walked away from her. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and concealed there, they clenched into fists. He shook his head before he turned to stare at her again. "How's Brad?" His eyes narrowed. "That's his name, right? What did you think I was gonna do, Sharon?" The papers were not all that he sent her. "It's time," he repeated the note that he had written and included in the package. "We ignored this long enough. Don't you think?"

Sharon's eyes closed. She exhaled quietly. "Emily," she whispered. The girl couldn't keep a secret to save her life, and especially where her father was concerned. Truthfully, Sharon had never asked any of her children to keep secrets from their father; she just expected some level of discretion where she was concerned. "Andy…" She didn't know what to say, or how to explain. This was not how she imagined that he would find out, but she supposed this was one of the possible responses that she should have expected.

"Don't." Andy looked down again. He studied the hardwood floor beneath their feet. "It's okay." In the twenty years that they had been separated, Andy knew that they had both had other relationships. Nothing serious, but that had changed. According to Emily, this guy Brad was serious. He was different. Her mother was different. "Look, there's no reason for it to be complicated. The kids are grown now, and we've lived apart for a long time. We both keep our pensions and property and we just… end it."

"End it." She repeated. Sharon stared sadly at him. "You make it sound so simple." Her gaze drifted away from him. She stared at the wall. "His name is Bradford," she said quietly, "he's a history professor at Northwestern and… it ended three months ago." Sharon placed the envelope on the table near the door. She reached for the knob and pulled the door open again. It was still raining and the wind had picked up, it lifted her hair and blew the dark strands across her face. "If you're ready to end it, you'll have to be the one to do it. God knows I never could."

Andy closed his eyes. He didn't flinch when the door closed behind her. He had always known, in the back of his mind, that he was no good for her. He never should have let it start to begin with.

 **-TBC-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _ **1986**_

"Do you have to do that here? It's embarrassing."

She barely spared him a look as he dropped into a chair at the small table that she was occupying in the back corner of the bar. She did reach out and curl her fingers around her drink to keep it from falling over when he jostled the table. "If it is so embarrassing," she drawled, eyes still on the book in front of her, "then do not sit here."

He huffed at her and took another swig from the beer in his hand. "Don't you have a home or something, O'Dwyer?" Andy narrowed his eyes at her, squinting to see her better in the low bar lights.

"As a matter of fact." Sharon decided to spare him a look then. "The only problem is, Marti has a date tonight."

"Oh." Andy nodded slowly.

"Hm." Sharon diverted her eyes back to the book. "I would much rather be doing this there, believe me." She turned her wrist over and looked at her watch, "but I imagine that by now they are quite enjoying themselves on the sofa."

Marti was her roommate. They had lived together for just over a year. They got along well enough, and Sharon was glad to have found her when she was looking for affordable college housing, but Marti liked to date, a lot. It wasn't very conducive to studying, and so, Sharon usually took her books with her to work and found some place to study between the police station and home. As it so happened, she and her partner Harry had ended up working an accident out on the freeway until well after the library had closed, so when he decided that he wanted drinks after their shifts ended, Sharon tagged along.

She wondered, sometimes, if she was completely insane. She didn't need to work, but she enjoyed it. Her parents would have provided her with anything that she needed while she attended law school, especially if that meant she gave up this dangerous profession of hers now, but Sharon had discovered that she enjoyed being a police officer. It was only going to be temporary, anyway. That was always the plan.

Sharon had initially gone to the academy because she was going to need to support more than just herself. The rent payments on the little house that her ex-fiancé had found for them were more expensive than the apartment that she was currently in. The plan was that he would go to law school and she would get a job. They had flipped a coin for it, and Jack Raydor, always the lucky guy, had managed to win.

After they graduated from Berkeley they had moved to Los Angeles. Jack was going to attend UCLA Law. Sharon's parents weren't exactly pleased with the idea that she was going to live with him _before_ they were married, but the date was set and the two of them wanted to get established as soon as possible. While the wedding was still being planned, Sharon went to work and Jack went to school. It was Jack that had seen the ad for the academy. It seemed like a good fit for someone who was planning on going to law school. Why not get as much experience in the criminal justice system as possible? He never expected that Sharon would go when she lost the coin toss, but the salary was decent enough.

Things were great between them for a while. They moved in to the house and while wedding plans were underway, they settled in to their new life. Sharon had suspected, once, during their junior year at Berkeley that Jack was being less than completely faithful to her. He assured her that he was. He made her feel as though she was just strung out from too much studying, tired and jealous and completely off base. She believed him. What proof did she have beyond a gut feeling?

That gut feeling had morphed into an eye full of something that Sharon wished that she could forget almost two years later. She found Jack with another woman, someone from his study group, and looking back now, she was glad that it happened _before_ they were married. She left Jack. She gave him back his ring and she walked away, even when he tried to tell her that it was only the one time. He tried to plead with her. He told her that it would never happen again. Sharon chose to listen to her gut.

Her parents wanted her to come home. She had grown up in an affluent Chicago neighborhood. Her father, a Federal judge, insisted that she could go to law school at home. Sharon was tempted to take them up on it, but when she had gone to give her Captain notice and turn in her papers, she couldn't do it. She chose to stay in LA, and she chose to remain a cop. She decided that she would go to law school there, but she avoided UCLA. She didn't want to run into Jack. She went to USC instead and found a small apartment to rent near the campus. Her parents were paying for her tuition, but Sharon insisted on taking care of everything else.

She was in her second year now. She had met Andy a couple of years ago. He showed up at a crime scene that she and her partner were working. He swaggered into it, a junior detective out to prove himself, and completely annoyed the crap out of her. If he wasn't being a macho pain in her backside, he was hitting on her. When he wasn't hitting on her, he was otherwise aggravating her. Why she continued to allow him in her presence when it wasn't necessary, she didn't know. He was mildly amusing and she supposed that she was a little lonely. She didn't have many friends. She didn't have a lot of time for friends, and the few that she did have were all coworkers, even if most of the cops she knew thought she was straddling the dark side by studying to be a lawyer.

Sharon looked at Andy now, slumped in his chair, a beer in his hand and sighed. He spent too many nights in bars like this, at least that was what his wife had told him before she kicked him out a few months ago. Before the night was over he would barely know his own name, much less be able to get himself home. Sharon shook her head and lowered her gaze again. The drinking had only gotten worse since Vicki had filed for divorce. She wouldn't let him see their kids very often either. She was punishing him for working too hard and attempting to make sense of all the darkness that he saw on a daily basis in the best way that he knew how.

She sighed finally and leaned back in her chair. "If you don't want to watch me study," she asked, "then why are you over here annoying me?" He seemed to have decided that was his goal in life, to irritate her until she couldn't stand to be in his presence any longer.

He flashed a crooked grin at her. "Because it's fun." His head tilted. Andy gestured at her with the hand that was still holding his beer. "You're cute when you're mad." That made her eyes narrow and his grin widened. "So, rumor has it," he began and leaned toward her, "that you're a girl."

Sharon rolled her eyes heavenward and drew another small breath. "I had heard something about that, yes." She tilted her head at him and waited. A brow arched. This had better be good or she thought she might upend what remained of her drink over his head.

"Right. It's weird, but there you have it." He pointed a finger at her, "I don't really get it. I mean, yeah, you're cute enough, but you're basically one of the guys. Just with breasts and stuff," he waved his hand at the evidence of that. The corners of his mouth were twitching. He was already pissing her off and that amused him. Her cheeks were beginning to color, not because she was embarrassed, but because her temper was rising. He had gone a couple of rounds with her in the gym. She could hold her own. There weren't a lot of women on the force that he would say that about. It was a draw as to which of them was better at the range, but Andy wasn't going to admit that.

She had a hot little body but O'Dwyer wasn't interested in the advances of the males around her. A lot of guys had tried. No one had gotten very far, and one idiot from Narcotics had ended up with a broken nose for his trouble. Andy supposed that amused him the most. There were a lot of guys on the force that didn't much care for her. She was studying to be a lawyer and that was just bad for business. They thought she was uppity, using the badge as a means of getting one over on the rest of them later. She was a good cop though; Andy had seen that for himself. They had worked a few scenes together. If he had a hangover at a couple of them, she hadn't told anyone. She busted his balls about showing up smelling like a brewery, despite the fact that he outranked her, but then she kept her mouth shut about it. That made her okay in his book. "So listen," he continued, "I was thinking…"

Sharon cut him off there. She leaned close to him. "Andy." Her voice pitched low. "While I may, in fact, be a girl… I'm not going to sleep with you." She figured he finally worked his way around to that. It was disheartening. She was starting to think that, maybe, despite the fact that he was an irritant, that he was different than the other guys on the force. She thought that he saw her as a cop now, and not a piece of ass.

"Don't be disgusting." Andy made a face at her. "See, that's your problem O'Dwyer. You're full of yourself. You're cute, but why would I want to sleep with you?" His nose wrinkled. "I mean, okay," he nodded, "nice rack, legs for days, normally that would do it for me, but—" he howled when a sharp pain traveled up his leg. "Son of a bitch." Andy placed his beer on the table with a thump and reached down to rub his leg. "You kicked me!"

"Be glad that it was your leg," she drawled. Sharon folded her arms across her chest and glowered at him. "If you are finished maligning me, what is it that you want? Let's get this over with so I can turn you down again."

Andy glared back at her. "You can be a real bitch sometimes, you know that?" He rubbed his leg again before he sat back up. "Good thing I like you or that would really piss me off." He huffed a sigh and reached for his beer again. He drained it and thought about getting another. "Okay, so here is the thing, you're a girl," he began again.

Sharon sighed. She lifted her gaze to the ceiling above them. "I think we covered that already, but please, do explain what my gender has to do with whatever it is that you need."

"So Vicki is going to let me come by for Nikki's birthday tomorrow." That was enough to remind him that he probably didn't need to have another beer. He didn't want to be hungover, not when things were actually going well on that front. "We've been talking lately, you know, nothing major," he tried to downplay it. "But she's not being as rabid as she was before. She said I could see the kids. I was just thinking, you know, I should get her something nice too. So?"

"So?" Sharon stared at him. She blinked a few times. "You want me to tell you what to get your ex-wife because she's being nice to you?" She wondered just how much he'd had to drink before he sat down with her.

"It's not final yet," he reminded her. "We've still got a few weeks before that happens, and I was thinking, you know, maybe that doesn't have to happen. It's not too late, right?"

"Hm." Sharon wasn't going to tell him that it was or wasn't. "That might be difficult," she said instead. "I've never met Victoria and I don't exactly know her beyond what you've told me." Her lips pursed. "So if you are wanting to get your, possibly, future not-ex-wife a gift, you may want to ask someone that you haven't told she's a blood sucking demon from whom there is no escape."

Andy watched her open her book and return to her studying. He rolled his eyes at her. "What's the matter, baby? Jealous?" He smirked when she glared at him. "Come on," he groaned, "you gotta help me out here. My entire future depends on this one gift."

"I doubt very much that it is as melodramatic as all that." Sharon rolled her eyes again. She sat back in her chair with a sigh. "Flowers might be a nice start. Don't make it too grand. Keep it simple, a nice gesture. You want to show her that you were thinking of her, but don't make it seem as though you put too much thought into it. Nice flowers," she pointed at him. "You want it to be obvious that you took the time to go to a florist and didn't just pick something up at a supermarket on the way to her house." She waved a hand at him, "see how that goes over and then build from there."

He shook his head at her. A grin curved his lips. "You know something, you're not so bad O'Dwyer." He stood up and leaned over. A kiss was pressed to her cheek. "Can I get you another drink?"

She made a face at him. He was always perfectly nice when he got what he wanted. "No, I'm good here. I'm probably going to leave soon." She cast a careful look at him. "You probably shouldn't have any more tonight either."

"Nah," he waved her off. "I already decided that was my last one. I don't wanna be hungover tomorrow. I'll be cutting out of here soon. Thanks for the tip. I'll see you around kid."

She grunted and swiped at his hand when he tugged and ruffled her ponytail, partially dislodging it. He really was an irritant. "Oh, I see, get what you want and walk away. Typical guy."

"What?" He spread his arms out from his body and took a few backward steps away from the table. "You're studying." He pointed a finger at her. "I better see some grades soon. I see a lot of books, but I want to see some grades." He laughed at the gesture she made, more amused than surprised that she flipped him off.

Sharon made a face at his back when he turned, and then went back to making notes about tax laws and precedents. When he left, half an hour later, without having gotten himself another drink, she wondered if maybe he wasn't a complete disaster after all.

 **-TBC-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

 **Warning:** Rated for this chapter. NSFW.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Sharon studied for another hour after Andy left her at the bar. The hour had grown late and the words were beginning th blur on their pages. By now she decided that going home was probably safe enough. Whatever Marti and her date had gotten up to for the evening, it was more than likely over by now. Sharon went home only to get up early and work a half shift the following day. She was going to have the rest of the weekend off, however. She had an exam the next week and a paper that was due. Marti usually worked on the weekend, so it was a good arrangement. She would have the apartment to herself and Sharon was perfectly content to spend her time with her books. She had always been a good student and she was finding law school to be no different.

The sun had already gone down and she was considering whether or not to order a pizza when a knock at the door drew her attention away from the paper that she was making notes for. Sharon wanted to get all of her sources lined out before she got started on the actual writing. A second knock made her realize that she had gotten distracted again. Sharon stood up and made her way across the living room. She tugged at the bottom of her cut-off jeans and rubbed her bare foot against the back of her calf as she squinted through the peephole. A frown drew her brows together.

"Andy," she said, when she had opened the door. "What are you doing here?" She gave him a quick once over. He wore a t-shirt that was stretched across his chest and a pair of jeans that bore grass stains on the knees. She shifted where she stood. "Weren't you supposed to be at a party today?"

"Yeah. I went." He breezed past her, swaying only slightly. There was a bag in one hand, a bottle in the other. "You hungry? I got Chinese." The bottle of bourbon was already half empty, but there was another one underneath his arm, and a six-pack of beer hanging from his finger. "I brought drinks too. I thought you could help me celebrate."

Her frown deepened. Sharon pushed the door closed behind him and followed him into the small kitchen-dining room combo that stood to one side of the apartment. There was a small living room on the other, and a hall that led to two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The apartment wasn't much, but it was clean. From the looks of Andy he had already had quite a bit to drink. Sharon folded her arms across her chest as she followed him. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and besides the cut-offs, she was wearing an old, worn Berkeley sweatshirt. She was hardly dressed for entertaining, but was more concerned about what he was doing showing up at her door on a Saturday evening, half drunk and apparently intending on getting drunker. "What are we celebrating?"

Andy looked through cupboards until he found two coffee mugs. He took them down and sloshed amber colored bourbon into both of them. He handed one of them to Sharon before clinking their mugs together. "The end. Freedom. Whatever you want to call it." He tossed the bourbon back and grimaced.

Sharon jumped slightly when he placed the mug on the table with more force than it probably needed. She set hers aside without drinking any of the liquid and pushed her hands into her back pockets instead. He was fumbling around looking for plates and forks now. He seemed to give up on that and just settled for pulling out a couple of forks and opening the cartons of food that he brought with him. "Andy." She turned when he walked past her, not exactly managing to move in a straight line, and made his way toward the sofa in the living room. "What happened?" She wondered how he had gotten there and was afraid that he had driven. She would give him hell for that later, but at the moment, he wasn't in any condition to listen to a lecture.

He put the carton of mushroom chicken on the coffee table in front of him. It was piled up with books and notes, obviously from Sharon's studying, and he was careful not to mess any of it up. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Andy looked up at her. "Vicki." He sat back on the sofa, slumped into the lumpy cushions. He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. "I did what you said. I took her flowers. Daisies. They're her favorite. Nic was so cute. She wore this little purple dress. It was a princess party," he glanced over at her, "did I tell you that?"

"No," she said quietly, "you didn't." Sharon walked over and sat beside him on the sofa. She drew her legs beneath her and leaned against the back of it, head propped in her hand. She had never seen this side of him before. He was the only one on the force that ever gave her a real chance, aside from her partner, and probably because he was friends with Harry.

"It wasn't bad." He shrugged. He went back to staring at the ceiling. Andy drew a breath and let it out slowly. "We had a good time. Nikki liked the doll that I got her. I played ball with Charlie." He grew silent for a moment. "And I met the guy that Vicki is replacing me with."

Her mouth made a small 'o' and her brows lifted in surprise but there was no sound forthcoming. She grimaced slightly. She could understand now why he was so… defeated. She reached out and touched his arm. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"She brought a date to our daughter's birthday party," he said. "Who does that?" He glanced at the woman beside him again and shook his head. "It turns out that the reason Vicki has been so easy to get along with lately is because she's not pissed off at me anymore. She doesn't care. She's moved on."

Sharon shifted closer to him on the sofa. She laid a hand against the back of his neck. Her fingers stroked the short, dark hair just above his collar. "What did you do?" She asked quietly. She could just imagine him blowing a gasket. His temper could be pretty bad.

"Nothing." He looked at her. His eyes were dark, glassy. He didn't seem to be really looking at her. "I wanted to. I wanted to put my fist in that asshole's face, but… he's not much of an asshole. That just made it worse, and the kids really like him." Andy exhaled loudly. "I didn't want to ruin the baby's big day. You only turn two once, you know? So we played, we had cake, and I helped clean up. Then I left. That's it. It's done. It's over. They don't need me anymore."

"That's not true." She felt her heart break for him. There was an ache in her throat at the pain that was pouring off of him. No wonder he had tried to drown it. Half a bottle in and he was still a raw, open wound. Sharon shifted where she sat and let her legs move out from under her. "You are still Charlie and Nicole's dad. No one can take that away from you. Andy…" She smiled sadly at him. "Your marriage might be over, but the two of you still have kids together. It sounds like Vicki understands that now. I know that it hurts too much for you to see it, but if she's not angry with you anymore, that could mean that she's willing to work with you on the other stuff." The custody arrangements; Vicki had sued for full custody but now maybe she would be willing to relax that, move to a more joint resolution.

"How did it get so messed up?" He looked at the ceiling again. "We were going to have everything. Vic wanted a big family, you know, but after Nicole, it was like we didn't even know each other anymore." They had found out that having two kids was more expensive than they thought. He took the detective's exam so he could move up and earn a bigger salary. Vicki didn't want to go back to work, not while the kids were still so young, and Andy had been okay with that; he told her they could get by on his paycheck, he would make it work. He just wanted her to be happy.

She was an elementary school teacher. She loved kids. She wanted a half dozen of them. With him working longer hours, he wasn't around as much as she needed him to be. The stuff he saw now, it was hard. Andy didn't want to take that home to his wife and kids. He didn't want them to know what kind of darkness existed outside their little Echo Park house. He drank to forget, but somewhere along the way, two beers became three, and then beer didn't do it anymore so a couple of shots of bourbon had become a full tumbler, then half a bottle, and then a whole bottle. One day he came home and the locks were changed. He wasn't very nice when he drank. Vicki didn't want that around the kids. He was trying to fix it, but he guessed now that he was just a little too late.

"Our divorce isn't even final yet and she's already dating." Andy hadn't touched another woman in all the months that they had been separated. Yeah, he looked. He even flirted. He was never serious about it though. He already had a woman; he wasn't seriously looking for another one. He always said that he had a wife at home that was waiting for him to get his shit together. Didn't look like that was true anymore. He sighed again and closed his eyes. "My mother warned me not to do it," he mumbled. "She wanted me to marry a nice, Catholic girl. I wouldn't listen. I wanted Vicki. We ran off and got hitched at city hall. I broke my mother's heart and look where it got me. Just another failure to add to a list that's getting longer every day, huh?"

"Shh." She reached for him then. She couldn't stand how broken he was. Sharon pulled him toward her and leaned back on the sofa. "Come here," she said, and tugged on his arm. "Come on," she pulled him with her as she stretched out and let him lay with his head against her chest. She combed the fingers of one hand through his hair. "You are not a failure," she said quietly. "You've just gotten a little lost, that's all." She knew the feeling. She had felt completely ashamed when she realized that her parents were right, that she was rushing in to things with Jack much too soon. Her own Catholic upbringing had been cast aside when she chose to live with a man that was not her husband for the practicality of it all. She was blinded by love and lust, and ego. She could see that now. Sharon closed her eyes as Andy's weight settled against her. "We'll figure it out tomorrow," she promised.

Andy curled an arm around her waist. She might look slight, but she was solid, and soft in all the right places. He sighed. His head was spinning, while the rest of him was aching. He let his eyes close. "He didn't deserve you," he mumbled. "The asshole that made you not trust the rest of us. He wasn't good enough." He sighed again. "You're too good for the lot of us, Shari."

"Shh," she crooned again. He was the only one that called her that, and usually she would correct him. She hated it. He knew that she hated it, but that never stopped him. She continued to comb her fingers through his hair until she felt him relax and grow heavier. When his soft snores began to fill the room, Sharon reached for one of the books on her coffee table. She managed to balance it in one hand; she continued to study while her broken-hearted friend slept off the better part of a bottle of bourbon and whatever else he had to drink before showing up at her door.

At some point she must have dozed off. She woke up a little while later with the feel of his lips at her neck and a hand sliding beneath her sweatshirt. She arched beneath him when a hand cupped her breast but the feel of teeth scraping across her collarbone had her eyes opening and the sleepy haze in her head clearing quickly. It took Sharon a minute to remember where she was and why there was a man lying on top of her. Her hands moved to his shoulders. "Andy." She said his name, but it came on a low hum when his thumb circled her nipple. "Andy, no…" She pushed at his shoulders and that was when he kissed her. He still tasted of the bourbon he drank earlier that evening. Her hips lifted toward him when his hand moved beneath her to splay across her bottom. He pulled her against him, and she could feel him against her thigh, hot and hard, his arousal straining at his jeans. His other hand squeezed her breast and she pushed at his shoulders again. Sharon broke the kiss and stared into his dark eyes. "Andy, please…" She watched realization dawn, and then regret. He had woken up, head still hazy with intoxication, and he thought she was Vicki. Sharon drew her bottom lip between her teeth. His hands had stilled but their bodies were still pressed together. They were staring at one another. She could feel heat rising up her neck to color her cheeks. "It's okay," she whispered.

He drew his hand out of her shirt and started to get off of her, but that was when his gaze fell to her mouth. He watched her worry her lip between her teeth. She did that when she was upset or nervous about something. It wasn't the first time that he had seen her do that, and it wasn't the first time that he thought about stopping her. This time he did. Whether it was the fact that he was still pretty drunk, or that he was aroused as all hell, he didn't know. This time when he kissed her, he knew who she was. Andy drew her bottom lip into his mouth and let his tongue soothe the abused skin. His hand moved back to her hip and this time he slid it along the smooth length of her thigh. He drew her leg up and around him and then he ground against her, pushing their denim clad bodies together as his mouth angled over hers. When her fingers curled into his shoulders and her hips rolled against him, Andy lifted his head. He looked down at her, lips swollen, chest rising and falling with each quick gasp of air.

"You ask me why I drink so much?" His voice rumbled quietly in the silent room. "I do it so I don't have to feel." His hand moved along her thigh again, beneath the ragged cuff of her cut-off shorts to cup her bottom. He thrust against her again. He could feel her heat through the denim. The friction was almost too much. He watched her pull her lip between her teeth again. "I'll go if you want me to. Right now I don't wanna be numb, Sharon. You spend all your time working and studying, and I think it's for the same damned reason. You just found another way to not feel anything."

Maybe he was right. She didn't know, and she didn't care to be psychoanalyzed by a guy that just wanted to spend a few hours finding another way to forget that his life was falling apart. Sharon sat up with the intention of shrugging him off, sending him away. She pulled the sweatshirt over her head and reached for him instead. They came together again, lips and teeth, heat and the ache of arousal chasing away their better judgment.

Their lips met again as his hands slipped back up her body to cup her breasts through the plain cotton of her simple bra. Sharon had dressed for comfort today. She wasn't planning on impressing anyone. Andy didn't seem to mind. His thumbs circled the outline of her hardened nipples.

She could feel him, hot and hard against her thigh. Sharon palmed him through his pants. She stroked the outline of his aroused length, felt it grow. She hummed as she drew a leg up and curled it around his hip. She moved against him, riding his thigh as the ache between her legs grew. She tugged at his t-shirt and lifted herself off the couch enough to pull it over his head. Her hands moved back to his chest after it fell to the floor and she let her fingers and nails rake through the hair covering his chest. Sharon groaned his name and it almost sounded like a plea.

Andy tugged at the fastening of her cut-offs. He lowered the zipper and slipped his hand into her shorts to palm her sex. The simple cotton was already damp with the proof of her arousal. He fought a groan as her hips moved and she pushed herself against the heel of his hand. Her head was thrown back. She gripped the arm of the sofa behind her, chest rising and falling as she drew quick, gasping breaths. He lifted the cup of her bra. As he rolled her hard nipple between his fingers she made a keen, mewling sound and rocked her hips against him. Andy bent and took her other breast into his mouth. His tongue swirled around her nipple at the same moment that he slipped his fingers beneath the flimsy material of her panties. He was met with no resistance as her arousal coated his fingers. Her hips jerked again as his hand slipped lower, as the pads of his fingers traced the swollen edge of her folds. She whimpered quietly as he slipped a single finger into her. "Damn," he muttered. Her inner walls gripped it tightly. "You're tight," he told her, and felt her stretch as he added a second finger. His dick twitched again. It ached to be buried inside her.

Her eyes opened. She looked at him, bent toward her. She drew a breath as she rolled her hips and rubbed her swollen clit against the heel of his hand. His fingers moved deeper within her, but the ache of arousal masked any discomfort as she stretched to accommodate them. Her head shook as she made sense of his words. "It's been a while," she said. It had been more than a year since she broke up with Jack.

With a groan he captured her mouth. His tongue swept along hers, plunging deep and mimicking the actions of his fingers as they began to move within her. She moved in time with him and he could feel the insistent rotation of her hips, the way her thighs trembled and her inner walls gripped his fingers. He drew away from her mouth and turned his face into her neck. His voice rumbled thickly in the room, mingled with the sound of her moans and gasps as he spoke against her ear, encouraged her to take what she needed, to pleasure herself against his hand.

It wasn't enough. Even when his fingers curled inside her and those of his other hand pinched and rolled her nipple. Sharon shook her head. She grunted in frustration as the ache built. She needed more. She placed her hands against his chest and gave him a push. Her tongue swept out to wet her lips as she looked at him. Sharon lifted her hips and pushed at her shorts. He seemed to get the idea. Andy scooted back on the couch and grabbed the denim. He tugged it down her legs and tossed it aside. Then she reached for his pants and began opening them. As she did, she sat up. Sharon pushed him back, so that he was laying at the other end of the couch. Then she grabbed his jeans and tugged them down his legs.

Andy kicked out of his shoes and finished removing his pants. His eyes didn't leave her as she bent over him. Her hand curled around his length when it bobbed toward her, hard and straining. Sharon stroked him, base to tip as she moved to straddle his legs. With her other hand, she reached back and unclasped her bra. Sharon shrugged out of it and flicked it away. She bent over him, nipples rubbing against his chest and found his mouth for another kiss.

He was too aroused to last long with her hand stroking him the way that she was, squeezing in all the right places. Andy wrapped an arm around her and sat up again. Then he turned and pressed her into the couch beneath him. He parted her thighs and drew them high. The head of his length pushed between her folds. Andy gripped the base of his cock. He rubbed it against her, coating himself in her arousal. Her hips moved with him, lifting in a circular motion that made him throb.

He braced a hand against the arm of the sofa and leaned over her. With her legs wrapped around him he positioned himself at her entrance. He pushed into her slowly. He could feel her stretching around him, walls gripping him tightly as he sank into her. "Shit," he muttered. The entire length of his cock was throbbing. He twitched inside her.

Her heels dug in to the cushions of the sofa. Sharon's back arched. Her hands gripped the cushion beneath her. "Again," she panted. She thrust insistently against him.

Andy's lip curled. "Goddammit don't move yet." She squeezed him inside her and he almost saw stars. "Aw hell. I'm going to fuck you," he warned. He drew back, until only the head of his length was inside her, then he thrust forward, harder. They both cried out. Andy gripped her leg and drew it higher. It was all the warning he gave her as he began to move, faster, harder with each thrust. He watched her, the way her eyes closed and her mouth parted. Her tits bounced with each thrust. He could feel his dick growing, his balls tightening. "Is this what you want?"

"Yes." She forced her eyes open and looked up at him. It had been too long and was almost painful, but her body was tingling, aching for release. "God yes," She moaned.

Andy pulled out of her. His cock throbbed when the cool air hit it. It was glistening with her juices. He rubbed it against her clit again, until she was panting. He watched her reach up and cup her own breasts, twist at the nipples. He groaned loudly. He pushed into her again, bottomed out this time and her back arched. Quick, hard thrusts followed. He grunted each time he filled her. When he felt release approaching, he moved a hand between them. "Come on," he told her, and began to rub at her clit.

She was close. She could feel it. She tossed her head to the side and pressed her eyes closed. The heat of the plateau stole her breath. Sharon cried out when her body contracted. Her eyes opened and she reached for him. Her hands found his thighs and she gripped them tightly as she rode each wave of pleasure that washed over her.

"Fuck," Andy swore as her walls gripped him tightly. He leaned over her, and while she was still caught in the contractions of her orgasm, he lifted her thigh higher and pressed into her more insistently. He pounded into her, cursing each time he felt her body grip him. He came with a shout. His release filled her, shooting thick and warm inside of her

They collapsed in a tangle of sweaty limbs, both of them gasping for air, sticky and spent.

Sharon didn't know if it was lust or pity, or some combination of the two, but she couldn't send him away and maybe she was even a little tired of being alone. It had been a while since she broke up with Jack. She had needs, and right now there was someone willing to take care of those needs. They could worry about all of the rest later.

 **-TBC-**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Andy woke up with a pounding in his head in a room that he didn't recognize and a bed that wasn't his. He scrubbed a hand over his face before he managed to crack his eyes open enough to look around. Sunlight was streaming in through a small window across from the bed, it cast the room in golden hues that were too cheerful to think about at the moment. He groaned as he sat up.

There was a naked woman beside him. She was sprawled on her stomach, a sheet bunched around her hips and one of her legs was wrapped around one of his. It didn't take him more than a second to realize who it was. "Shit." He closed his eyes as he thought back over the previous night. The images were kind of disjointed but he remembered enough of it.

He twisted away from her and sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched and his head in his hands. Taking Sharon to bed was not what he had in mind when he decided to come over. He couldn't remember if she had anything to drink or not, but he did remember waking up with her on the sofa. He remembered the feel of her, soft and warm, and wanting to drown in her heat. Most of his memories were a blur, but the heat of her, wrapped around him was pretty hard to forget. He could feel his dick twitch just thinking about those legs wrapped around his hips while he took her, right there on that sofa, with little more than a few words and a lot of intent. She wasn't exactly passive, that made him feel like less of an ass, but an ass all the same.

Andy glanced back at her, still asleep, and sprawled in the same place that she had fallen after they had made it to the bed. Getting there he didn't recall, but the image of her, head thrown back while she rode him, that had him getting off the bed before he decided to recreate the whole damned thing. He stumbled toward the bathroom where he relieved himself before splashing water on his face. Then he stared at himself in the mirror. He had used her to make himself forget. She let him. Or maybe she was using him too, he didn't know. It didn't make him feel any better.

He stood there for a few minutes, silently berating himself before he finally left the small bathroom. Her roommate's door was closed and the rest of the apartment was quiet. He went back to Sharon's room and looked around. He found her awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, the sheet wrapped around her torso. He couldn't read her face and wondered if that was a good thing. Andy rubbed a hand over his face and into his hair before he walked over. He sat down beside her with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"So am I." She had hardly been taken advantage of. She allowed herself to be swept along in the moment and she felt badly for that, mainly because she could tell that he was kicking himself now. "Andy, it's okay. We're both grown-ups." She was the one who had straddled his lap after they recovered. There were bite marks on his neck and across his shoulder. They hadn't gotten there on their own. She wondered if maybe she had always been attracted to him. He just wasn't available.

"Yeah." The thick, husky sound of her voice was doing things to him. Andy shook his head. "Problem is, bad as I feel about it, right now I just want to screw you again. You deserve better." Her hair was a tousled, curling mess. He could smell them, on the sheets, on her skin. Andy tore his gaze away from her. His jaw clenched.

"Maybe I do." She shook her hair back and looked at him. "I don't know what it is, exactly, that you think of me, but I am capable of deciding for myself what it is that I want. No one is perfect, Andy." She stood up and looked down at him. "We all have things that we are running from, hurts that we are trying to forget. You don't get to corner the market on guilt." She nodded her head toward the door. "Your clothes are out there if you want to go. If you don't, you know where the kitchen is." She turned. "Or you can join me in the shower. The choice is yours, but make it quickly. I don't have all day." She cast a look back at him from over her shoulder. "It's just sex, Andy. I think that we are both mature enough to realize that."

He didn't follow her into the shower, but he did get dressed and put on a pot of coffee. He waited for her in the kitchen. He cleaned up the mess that was left behind the night before and when she rejoined him, his head was a little clearer. They realized quickly that they were each other's rebound. She had been single since her engagement ended and he was obviously reeling from the complete destruction of his marriage. Neither of them wanted a serious relationship.

Sharon wanted to finish law school, find her place in the world. Andy just wanted to keep his head above water, maybe have more time with his kids. If they could get over the fact that they spent the night together, maybe they could be better friends.

Friends with a certain amount of benefit.

Andy started coming around more often, and Sharon allowed him to. Except when he was drunk. He could sleep it off on her couch, but if he wanted her, then he could have her while he was sober. She had no time for drunken escapades, and he realized that he was more of an ass than he originally thought if he was treating her like that was all that she was good for. He took her out, when she wasn't studying, and neither of them was working, and he didn't have his kids.

Sharon was right about that. Now that Vicki had moved on, as long as he was sober when he came around, she let him see the kids more. He tried to do that, to keep away from the alcohol. It was hard sometimes. He just wanted to forget. That was when he went looking for Sharon. He was using her, but they were pretty clear on the fact that they were using each other. He wasn't the only one that had doubts about his life. There were moments when Sharon didn't know if she could do it all, the job and her classes. There were days when the things that she saw people do in their city made her wonder why any of them tried to build a life for themselves.

She would track Andy down to his dingy little apartment and she would beg him to stop the images in her head, to make her forget. To drive away the darkness and the pain. She didn't want to remember the father that was beating his wife and kids, or the teenager whose family that she and her partner had to notify of his passing. She wanted to wrap herself around him and lose herself in the heat and the lust, to feel so much that she couldn't think, couldn't breathe, until there was just him and her and the sweat, and the feel of his body straining toward release as he pushed her over the edge.

Sharon collapsed against the bed beside him. Her chest was heaving. Her legs were weak and tingling. She was going to have bruises from where he had been gripping her hips, but she didn't mind, she never did. She stretched as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes were still closed. She was still seeing spots behind her lids. A low chuckle that was half a groan managed to escape her. Beside her, he was grunting, and in much the same shape that she was in. It wasn't the first time that he had her tonight.

They had started the evening on his couch; they turned the ballgame on after she finished helping him clean up his place. His kids were coming the next day. It was going to be their first overnight visit. They had been over before, but never overnight. He was excited, but the place needed a good scrubbing. They had tossed out all the empty bottles, set up a couple of twin beds in a room down the hall that was much too small to be considered a second bedroom, but would do. Then they had ordered pizza with the intent of watching the game before she went home. Sharon had never given baseball much thought until she started spending time with Andy. She found she rather enjoyed it, for the most part. It had its boring moments. When that happened, she found other ways to pass the time.

They hadn't finished watching the game. After Sharon had gotten on her knees between his legs and opened his jeans, they had ended up doing a few other things instead of watching the Dodgers lose. Sharon stretched again and drew a deep breath. She let it out slowly. Her eyes opened. She studied the ceiling above Andy's bed. It needed repainting. He needed to find a new apartment. This had been a stopgap after Vicki kicked him out. Now that his divorce was final, he was going to need to find something more permanent. She shook her head.

"I'm pregnant."

"Christ." Andy covered his face as he swore. "Are you sure?"

Blurting it out wasn't the plan. She had known for over a week. She just hadn't decided yet how to tell him. This wasn't a serious relationship. Yeah, they went out to the movies occasionally, or dinner. They hung out at the bar with their coworkers. They had sex when they were both in the mood. She lifted herself onto her elbows and looked at him. He was lying at the other end of the bed. "I'm sure." Her tongue swept across her lips, where she could still taste him. She shrugged. "I don't need anything from you, Andy. I just thought that you should know."

"Oh, that's great." He rolled off the bed and glared down at her. "That's just wonderful, Sharon. You don't need anything? That's what you've got to say to me after telling me that you're knocked up?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I thought you were on the pill?" He didn't mean it to sound accusatory, but they could have been a little more careful if he had known.

She arched a brow at him. "I went back on the pill, yes, after all of this started." She gestured between them. "Not soon enough, apparently." She sat up. Her eyes flashed with irritation. "It's more than two months gone, Andy. It happened one of the first times we were together." Maybe not that first night, but within those first couple of weeks, after that she had told him she was going back on the pill, something she hadn't needed after she and Jack broke up. She had known she would miss a period after she started taking them again, when she missed a second one, she got worried.

He ran both of his hands into his hair and stood there, staring back at her. "Shit." It was all that he could think of to say. It was his; they both knew that it was. She hadn't been with anyone else and he wouldn't insult her by insinuating otherwise. She wasn't that kind of woman. "What do you wanna do about it?"

That should have irritated her. He was wary as he asked it, though. She swallowed her annoyance and shrugged. "There's nothing to do about it now. It's done, Andy. That's why I don't expect anything from you. I can take care of myself. I don't need you for that."

He squinted at her. She was Catholic. Like he was. He supposed she was right. There wasn't really anything that they could do about it now, but while he didn't exactly believe in abortion, he knew it was her choice. He guessed religion didn't really matter anyway. That just wasn't who Sharon was. "Okay." He nodded. "Alright." His heart was pounding against his chest and it had nothing to do with what they had been doing _before_ she told him that he had gotten her pregnant. "We'll get married."

She snorted a laugh. Sharon leaned over as her body was caught in the grips of a full on guffaw. Then she realized that he wasn't laughing with her. Her laughter faded and her body went stiff. "You're serious." It wasn't a question. She rolled off the bed and stood on its other side, using it as a shield between them. "Are you out of your mind?" That was a question that she probably should have asked of both of them before they had gotten to this point. "We can't get married."

"The hell we can't." He scowled at her. "What did you expect to happen, Sharon? Huh? You keep saying that you don't need me, but what the hell did you think I was going to do with this?" He pointed a finger at her. "That's my kid. You think I don't know how it got there? Or that I don't know you well enough to know that I'm the only guy you've been sleeping with the last few months. Probably the only guy that you've slept with since that asshole cheated on you. What? I'm just going to let you walk out of here and we'll keep doing what we're doing? I'll come over every couple of nights and screw you until we both can't walk, at least until you're so big you don't care about the idea of sex anymore, and then what? I'm going to just forget how you got that way? And what the hell do you think the department is going to do when you start showing, huh? You're going to have to report this. They're going to put you on a desk until that kid is born, and that's not to mention what it's going to do to your reputation. Yeah, okay, you don't really care about that because you don't plan to stick around long enough for that to matter. Fine, I get it. Once you get out of law school, you're turning in your badge. That's all well and good, Sharon, but how the hell are you going to keep up with your classes and all the goddamned studying that you do when you've got a baby crying for its next feeding or wanting to have its diaper changed, huh? Did you happen to think about that at all?" She opened her mouth to respond and he cut her off before she could. "Or your parents. What are they going to do? You already said that you disappointed them with the whole Jack screw-up. What are they gonna do when you tell them that not only have you been sleeping with a guy that you're not married to, but he knocked you up in the process. But it's okay, because you don't need him. Baby, I don't know what kind of Catholic upbringing that you had, but where I come from, we're getting married."

"Do you think that this is what I wanted?" She stared back at him, completely incredulous over his outburst. Tears filled her eyes. She angrily swiped one of them away as it rolled down her cheek. "Do you think that _this_ is how I envisioned my life going?" Sharon spread her arms out and gestured at the room. "What do you think is going to happen, Andy? We'll just move in here and become a happily little family? How well do you think that will go over with your ex-wife? How often do you think that she is going to let you see Charlie and Nicole when she finds out that not only have you managed to find a new wife in the few weeks since your divorce was final, but you've managed to start a new family too. That's putting aside, of course, the fact that we barely know each other." Her voice trembled and she hated it. She hated that she felt this emotional and that she couldn't hide it. She despised the fact that she knew, deep down, that he was right. She was terrified of what the future was going to bring and how she was going to accomplish all of her dreams now, but destroying both of their lives because they had been careless was not the answer. "Yeah, my parents may stop paying my tuition and I might have to give up law school for a while, or find another job," she admitted, and wiped away another tear, "but at least if I do all of that I won't be standing here with you in another year trying to figure out how we screwed up our lives and figuring out another custody arrangement because another marriage has failed."

She turned away from him and he swore quietly. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her middle and from the tremble in her shoulders he could tell that she was crying. Andy sighed as he walked around the bed. "Dammit, Sharon." He slipped his arms around her and rested his chin against her shoulder. She tried to shrug him off but he held fast and wouldn't let her. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and another to her neck. He wrapped an arm around her torso and gathered her close. Her back felt cool against his bare chest. His other arm moved around her waist and his hand splayed across her stomach. It was still flat, showing no signs at all of the life that was growing inside.

"You drink too much," she whispered. "You're already taking extra shifts to pay child support." Vicki had waived the alimony because she had gone back to work. She wanted her kids taken care of. She didn't want Andy scraping money together that he didn't have. "You can't support two families, Andy."

"So I'll stop." She scoffed at him and he turned her in his arms. "What? So you won't even give me a chance to try? Being buried in a bottle messed up my first marriage. I won't do that again. I may not be as smart as you, but I can learn from my mistakes. I take the extra shifts because when I'm working, I'm not drinking. I do it because it's easier than being alone, Sharon." His hands moved up and down her arms. "Look, we aren't going to figure all this out tonight. But I'm telling you, we can handle this. We'll get a bigger place, and you'll keep working. Or you can quit working and focus on school. I don't care. That's up to you. We'll figure it out. Whatever happens, I don't want you to think that I'm going to choose Nikki and Charlie over this kid because they were here first. I can make it work."

He was so damned determined to try that she wanted to start crying again and hated the both of them for it. "Why in the world did she ever let you go?" Sharon asked instead.

"Because I'm a mean drunk," he reminded her. "Or have you forgotten that already?"

Sharon snorted and looked away from him. He was flashing that crooked, devil-may-care grin of his, the one that had won her over when they first became friends, and the one that usually landed them in bed these days. "No honey," she drawled, "in my experience, you're a horny drunk."

He looked down at her. His brows bobbed as his eyes swept along her naked form. "Well, can you blame me?"

She pushed him away from her. "You're an ass, that is what you are." Sharon folded her arms across her chest again. "I don't know what the right thing is anymore, but I have a pretty good idea that rushing in to something that we may both regret later isn't it."

"Maybe you're right." He shrugged. "Hell, I don't know either. But I know that I want to do the right thing here, if you'll let me. So let's take some time, let's think about it. Shit. We've got a few months before that kid gets here. I think that we can figure something out by then. Okay?"

"Okay." She let him pull her back into the circle of his arms and she stood there while he hugged her. Sharon sighed. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. She was terrified of what came next, but for the first time in over a week, she didn't feel alone anymore.

 **-TBC-**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

"Careful." Andy held one of Sharon's hands in his. The other went to her elbow as he helped her out of the car. There was a blindfold covering her eyes. She hated surprises, but he had talked her in to indulging him with this one. After he helped her maneuver out of the car, he kept a hand on her elbow and guided her onto the sidewalk that they were parked beside. He took a deep breath as he stood beside her. It was now or never. She would either like it, or she would shoot him. Or she would like it _and_ she would shoot him. It was always a toss up and depended on which way the wind was blowing her hormones. On the upside, despite what anyone else might think about them, this was the third time that he had been down this particular road and by now he had learned to duck. Andy turned his wife in the direction of her present and reached up to pull the blindfold off of her eyes. "What do you think?"

She blinked as light flooded her vision. It was a bright, clear day. Sharon squinted against the sun and gazed across an unkempt yard at a house that looked as though it had seen far better days. Her lips pursed. She hummed. She didn't say anything at first. She didn't know _what_ to say. Beside her, her husband was shifting anxiously. "Well…" She slanted a look at him. "It's… Andy, we can't afford this." She didn't want to be the downer in their relationship, but financially they were on an uphill climb. One of them needed to be realistic about that. Andy wasn't stupid, but he was entirely too optimistic at times.

They had only been married for two months, and the apartment was entirely too small for them and growing smaller every day. They were going to have to find something larger, and preferably before the baby was born, but they had discussed getting a house and Sharon thought that they had agreed that it would have to wait.

"Actually," he told her, "we can." He held up the keys. "We already did." He watched her eyes narrow and got ready for the argument.

It had taken him a couple of months to convince her that she should marry him. In the end, it was her parents that had tipped the scale in his favor. Her dad didn't like him much, but Andy figured he wouldn't like him either if their positions were reversed. He was willing to take responsibility for their careless behavior, though, and that had earned him major points with them. It helped, too, that he was Catholic. Her mother had insisted on a proper wedding, if a small one, in a church, with a priest presiding over them. That had taken some convincing. Andy had to prove that Vicki wasn't Catholic and that they had gotten married by a judge before it would be allowed. As far as the church was concerned, his previous marriage never existed. He had finally married a good, catholic girl, though, so his mother was pleased, even if everyone agreed with the idea that Sharon being almost four months pregnant and looking every bit of it at the time that they got married was a bit unfortunate.

The last two months had not exactly been easy, but they were trying to make it work. Vicki was furious with him, but at the same time, she was still dating that guy Pat, so she couldn't really blame him for moving on with someone else. She couldn't prove that his relationship with Sharon was based on drunken debauchery, but she wanted to believe it was. Sharon was winning her over, though, slowly, as the two women got to know each other. She hadn't taken Charlie and Nic away from him, at least, and he was grateful for that. The problem was, with a new baby coming and the kids spending every-other weekend with him and Sharon, they needed a place big enough for all of them.

In a couple of months they were going to have three kids, at least part of the time, and he just didn't see how another apartment, even a bigger one, was going to get it done. Kids needed a place to play, to roam and be loud. Sharon was just learning to be a mother, though, but she would realize eventually that he was right about this. She just needed a little more time to get into the swing of it all, to having kids around her all the time.

Before she had gotten pregnant she was never around him when he had the kids. Her experience with children was limited to what she encountered on the job and a few younger cousins that she only saw a couple of times a year. She and her siblings were all grown, but none of them had kids yet. This was new for her. It wasn't for him, and he didn't want her to feel like he was lording that over her. Trying to keep everyone happy was wearing on him. He wanted a drink, but he promised Sharon that he wouldn't. It was the condition upon which she had finally agreed to marry him. No drinking. He had to stay sober, especially around the kids. He was committed to that, this was his second chance, and he wasn't going to blow it. That didn't make it easy, though.

"What do you mean," she asked slowly, every word perfectly enunciated, "that we already did?" Sharon's eyes flashed with irritation. "Andy, what did you do?" She folded her arms across her chest, something that was getting harder to do the further along that she got.

She was worried about the finances. Sharon had cut back her hours at work so that she could finish the year at USC and not lose too much time with her education after the baby was born. They had both come to realize that she would probably have to take some time off, delay her final year for a semester or two, but she was going to finish law school, on that they were agreed. Andy promised her that they would find a way to make it work. The problem was, they needed both incomes right now. They had run the numbers every way that they could, and even with Sharon's parents still paying for her education, having a baby wasn't cheap, especially when he was already contributing to the raising of two others.

Both of their parents had offered to help them out. Neither of them was willing to take that step, however. Sharon's father had offered to help them buy a house, but Andy had politely refused. Sharon had backed him up on that. Then he had refused to take money from his own father. His mother had tried to use Italian guilt, she told him to think of the children. That's what he was doing. He was going to figure this out, and he would do it on his own… well, _they_ would. Sharon insisted that if they were going to do this, they were a team.

His wife had a temper, though. That was something that he hadn't known about her before they were married. It took a lot to get Sharon mad enough to lose it, but once she did, well… he had spent a few nights sleeping on the sofa. Andy faced her now and took a deep breath. He got ready to weather the storm. "I sold the Camaro."

Her eyes widened. Whatever he was going to say, Sharon had not expected that. Her lips parted. Vicki had been after him for months to get that car out of her garage. Andy had the old Camaro before he met Vicki. He stopped driving it when their kids were born, but he wouldn't get rid of it. He took it out sometimes, on weekends, when the weather was good. After she kicked him out, he had no place to keep it. Vicki had allowed him to leave it parked in the garage, but after the divorce was final she became more vocal that it needed to go.

"Andy." She whispered his name and shook her head. He loved that car. He and his dad had rebuilt it when he was a teenager. He had worked afternoons at his dad's garage to earn the money to buy the parts that were needed to rebuild the engine, and later to repair the exterior. Over the years he had given it a lot of love.

"It's okay." He dangled the keys in front of her again. "It was time. It's just a car," he promised her. "Sharon, we need a house. The kids need a yard. I got enough out of the sale for the down payment. We can manage the rest." He didn't exactly like the idea of the twenty-year mortgage but it put their payments and interest low enough that, while it was more expensive than renting an apartment, they could handle it. "I know it doesn't look like a lot." He turned and looked at the house again. "It needs some work," he admitted. "The roof was replaced a couple of years ago, though, so we're good there. It needs new siding in some places, and a lot of paint. The yard needs a lot of work too, but, I figured we could take care of that." He looked at her again. "The inside is better, not great, but better. I thought…" He shrugged. "We could grow into it."

She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at the house again. It was an old Craftsman, and set back from the road just a bit. There was an old, slumping fence around the back yard. It would need to be torn down and replaced. They had a lot of work ahead of them, and probably a lot of expense, but he was right. They had time to do it all, they would be here a while. They could grow into it. When she looked at him again, her eyes were bright and damp. She cupped his face between her hands and leaned up to kiss him.

"I am so furious with you," she told him. She wished that he had talked to her about this first, but she also appreciated the gift. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He caught her lips in another kiss, this one lingering for a moment. Then he took her hand and dropped the keys into it. "Welcome home."

Sharon laughed as she threw her arms around his neck. They had a house. They had a home. Despite all of the work that lay before them, she could feel the weight lifting off of her shoulders. Between them, the baby kicked. Sharon laughed again. "I think he likes it too."

"She." Andy smirked at her. " _She_ likes it too."

She shoved him away from her with a grunt. "When our son is born, I hope that you have an explanation ready for him for all the times that you insisted that he is a girl."

"Yeah, and I know our daughter will be completely understanding of the fact that her mother was in total denial." He pointed a finger at her. "The sonogram was inconclusive, but the doctor said there was still a 70 percent chance that it's a girl."

"Which means that there is still a thirty percent chance that it's a boy." She lifted her chin in defiance. "Just because you have been down this road before, Detective Flynn, does not mean that you automatically know what is going on inside of _my_ body."

"You are absolutely correct, Officer Flynn, it doesn't mean that at all. But I'm probably right." He turned her toward the house and gave her bottom a swat. "Let's go check out the inside."

Sharon made a face at him, but when he took her hand, she leaned in to his side. Her arms went around his middle as they made their way up the walkway to the house. There was a wide, covered porch and stone steps, with thick wooden columns and a wooden rail that extended from the front of the house. The porch was in fairly good condition, as was the front of the house. While Sharon worked on unlocking the front door, her husband stood behind her. His arms were around her, hands resting against her rounded middle while his chin rested against her shoulder. The door opened ahead of them into a foyer, and from what she could see, there were stairs to one side and an open family room to the other. The hardwood floors looked like they would need refinishing, but they weren't terrible.

Before she could step inside, Andy drew her back. Sharon cast a surprised look at him. "What?" When he lifted her, she let out a short, startled squeak. Her arms moved around his neck. She kissed him as he maneuvered them across the threshold and into the house that would be their home. Maybe they had gone about everything the wrong way, but they were trying very hard to make their marriage work, and to build a life for the child that they had created together.

Andy set her on her feet again beside the stairs. His hands cupped her head and he tipped it back. He smiled at the happy gleam in her eyes. For the first time since the night that she told him that she was pregnant, her eyes weren't haunted with fear or doubt. He pressed a gentle kiss to her bottom lip, and then her nose. Then he grinned at her. "What do you think?"

She turned slowly. The oak banister and newel post went well with the floors. He was right, the inside was better, but it needed some attention. The wallpaper was faded, and honestly, she wanted to tear it down and paint the walls. The rooms were open and airy, however. Sharon moved in to what she assumed would be the living room. There was a fireplace in the center of the wall that separated the living room from what appeared to be a small office or den, although that was an oddity in Southern California. A lot of the older homes had one. It would be nice on cool nights.

They made their way slowly from room to room. There was a formal dining room on the other side of the foyer, and behind that, a large kitchen. There was also a guest bathroom downstairs and a large storage closet just off the hall that stretched from the front door to the kitchen. The kitchen was the real treat, however. While the living room had large paned windows that overlooked the front yard, the kitchen was bathed with natural light. There were double, paned glass doors that opened onto a deck at the back of the house, and windows lined the counter, giving a perfect view of the back yard.

There was an island that separated the stove and fridge from the breakfast nook and a large walk-in pantry. The house was old, Andy explained, built in the thirties, but it was solid.

The deck needed to be repaired, but it didn't need to be completely replaced, it was only ten years old. The yard was overgrown, but they could take care of that. Andy promised her that he would have it cleaned up and mowed before the kids stayed with them the first time. There was a basement, just off the kitchen. The stairs creaked, but Andy promised her they were sturdy. The laundry room was in the basement. Andy helped her down the stairs but made Sharon promise him that she would not bother with the laundry when he wasn't home, at least not while she was pregnant. Sometimes he was hard to get a hold of, if he was on a case, and he didn't want to worry about her falling while lugging a heavy basket up or down the stairs.

After their tour of the downstairs, they headed up the staircase to check out the second level. There were three bedrooms. Andy explained that they would have room enough for all the kids. The master bedroom was at the top of the stairs, and sported it's own bathroom. The other two rooms were smaller, but still big enough to house three kids and there was a shared bathroom between them. Both rooms had built in shelving and windows that over looked the back yard. One of them had a window seat. Sharon thought Nicole would appreciate it as she got older. For now, Nicole and the baby would have to share the nursery, which Sharon decided she wanted to be the room closest to theirs. Charlie was the oldest at five; he would get his own room when he visited them. They could reorganize later, but for now they had a plan.

Even with a moving day, home repairs, and a lot of yard work ahead of them, life suddenly seemed a lot less chaotic than it was prior to Andy buying the house. Having a goal ahead of them helped considerably. They had something now to work toward, an answer, rather than a huge gaping chasm of questions. They were still going to struggle financially. That hadn't changed, but Sharon decided they could manage. They could make it work.

It took them a couple of weeks to get moved in. Andy wouldn't let Sharon do a lot, much to her frustration, and his division caught a case so he spent a few days and nights working long hours. They didn't have a lot to move, definitely not a house full, but he wouldn't let her do more than pack dishes and label boxes. After everything was carried over to the new house, it didn't take long to unpack it all. There was a lot that they were going to have to buy. Andy's parents sent them a beautiful oak table with matching chairs for the dining room. There was also a credenza and hutch. It had all belonged to his grandmother. His mother would not allow them to turn it down; she called it a house-warming gift.

Andy's sister gave them a decent sofa, a leather sectional that she told them just didn't fit in with the remodel that she and her husband had done of their house. Then, two weeks after they moved in, several boxes were delivered from a baby boutique in Chicago. There was a crib and changing table, a rocking chair, and baby clothes in neutral colors. It was the first grandchild, Sharon's mother explained, and she would not deny them the opportunity to spoil it rotten.

She had burst into tears while her mother was still on the phone. Andy found her like that when he got home from work that evening. It had taken him a couple of hours to get her calmed down, and then there was a long conversation with her mother to assure Genevieve that Sharon was okay, just feeling very hormonal and overwhelmed. They spent the next weekend stripping the wallpaper in the nursery. It was painted and aired out before the new furniture was moved upstairs to be assembled.

They spent several busy weeks getting the house ready for the new baby. Andy got together with a few friends and the back yard was cleaned out and mowed. The fence was torn down, and while they couldn't afford to replace it yet, it looked a lot better without the dilapidated old structure. They wouldn't let the kids play outside without one of them there to keep an eye on things anyway, so the fence had only been a potentially dangerous eyesore.

The next chore was the front yard. Landscaping was pretty far down their list of things that needed to be done, but Sharon at least wanted it to _look_ decent. The lawn had been mowed, and Andy was keeping it cut short, but the flowerbeds were depressingly empty. She had managed to get him to promise that he would do something about that soon, since he wouldn't let her do it. He really could be a rather macho pain in her backside, but he was trying to take care of her.

It chaffed, though. For that reason, Sharon didn't feel too badly about waking him up at barely seven in the morning on the first day off that he'd had in over two weeks. "Andy." She nudged his foot. She was standing at the foot of their bed, a hand resting against her stomach. "Andy!" She slapped the bottom of his foot when he only grunted at her. It was the second time that she had been upstairs to try and rouse him.

He groaned as he rolled over. He pulled a pillow over his head. "Not right now, baby, I'm tired. Maybe in a little while."

She gazed heavenward and rubbed her lips together. Her tongue swept across her teeth. She was trying very hard not to laugh. "You would be so lucky." Sharon rubbed the side of her stomach when the baby kicked, hard, in response to the sound of his voice. He had come in late the night before. Then he was up until almost two painting Charlie's room. They had chosen a lovely pale blue for the walls. It went well with the white headboard and dresser that they had gotten for him. He had showered before coming to bed, but Sharon had to grin at the paint that was still speckled through his hair. She reached down and slapped the bottom of his foot again. " _Andy_!"

He bolted up right in the bed and stared at her. "What? What happened? Are you okay? Is it the baby?" He ran a hand over his face and yawned. "What time is it?"

Sharon rested her hand on her hip and continued to rub her stomach. "Just after seven. I'm fine." She smiled sweetly at him. "You were going to do the yard today, don't you remember?"

"Right now?" He yawned again and rubbed his eyes. "It's early," he complained. He lay back down and buried his face in the pillow. "I can do it later."

"Andy." Sharon folded her arms across her chest. "You promised." She walked around to his side of the bed and nudged his shoulder. "If you start now, you might finish before the kids get here."

Vicki was dropping them off later that afternoon. The custody arrangement with Andy had called for him to have them on alternating weekends, every other Christmas, and for a few weeks during the summer. Their summer visit was about to start. Charlie would have to crash in the nursery with Nicole for a couple of days, at least until the paint dried and the room finished airing out, but they were still more or less on schedule. Originally they had planned to have the kids later in the summer, but Vicki had suggested and Andy agreed that they might want to do the visit before the baby was born. While she wasn't exactly thrilled with them, she wasn't being difficult either. She remembered all too well what it was like when Nicole was born and how hard it had been juggling a toddler and a newborn. This was Sharon's first baby, and she was trying to work with them on a schedule for the kids as her delivery date got closer.

"I know I did." He rolled onto his back. "I'm going to do the yard," he promised her. "Just… not right now." He reached out and curled a hand around her arm. He tugged her down onto the bed beside him. "Right now you're going to get back in here with me." He settled her on the bed with him and draped a leg across both of hers. He pressed a kiss to her stomach before he laid his head against her chest. With a sigh, he got comfortable again.

"Andy!" Sharon laughed as his weight settled against her. Her hand moved into his hair and she rolled her eyes at him. "We don't have time for this," she told him, but she made no move to push him off of her. His hand was stroking her belly and already the baby was beginning to settle. Sharon sighed. "You're terrible."

"You love me anyway," he mumbled sleepily.

Sharon only hummed in response. She was beginning to think that maybe she did. She let her eyes close and continued to stroke his hair. She decided that they could afford to lie there for a few more minutes. She let him sleep for another hour, dozing a bit herself, before they really did have to get up and get a start on their day.

By noon he had both of the flowerbeds in front of the porch completely gutted and cleaned out. The new soil and landscaping bricks were in place and he was taking a short break before he began the actual planting. His shirt was long gone. Andy sat on the front steps, taking a moment to cool off in the shade of the porch before he tackled the rest of his chore. He heard ice tinkling in a glass before a hand rested against his shoulder. Andy looked up as his wife lowered herself onto the step beside him. When she held out the glass, he grinned. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Sharon's hand settled against his back and slowly stroked the length of it. "That looks great," she told him, nodding to the newly cleaned up beds.

"Yeah." He was still grinning at her, however. "You're ogling me, aren't you?" His brows bobbed teasingly.

"I am." She smirked at him. "Problem?" She hadn't felt much like being intimate lately, but he was hot and sweaty and it was speaking to her hormones.

"Nope." He leaned over and drew her into a kiss. "Wanna go in the backyard and roll around?"

Sharon snorted against his mouth. "Not anymore." They had done that before the fence had come down. "Might shock the neighbors." She nipped playfully at his bottom lip. "But if you want to go inside and roll around on the couch…"

"Don't have to tell me twice." Andy stood up and held a hand out to her. A car pulled into the driveway behind his truck before he could do more than help her up. "Kids are here," he said unnecessarily. "Rain check?"

"I hope so." Her moods seemed to shift without warning. She was really ready for this pregnancy to be over. There were days when she really liked him. Others when she couldn't believe that she had married him. It was all very emotional and inconvenient. She would like to have her body back. Sharon smiled as one of the back doors of Vicki's red sedan opened and Charlie bolted out of the car. He ran toward his dad, a fire truck clutched in one hand.

"Dad! Look what I got!"

Vicki followed at a more sedate pace. She leaned into the back seat and pulled Nicole out of her car seat before setting her on her feet so that she could follow her brother. Sharon walked toward her. "I'm afraid we're running behind today," She admitted with a small smile and picked up Charlie's bag when Vicki sat it on the pavement beside the car.

"How are you feeling?" Vicki held on to Nicole's bag and closed the car door with her hip. "You look like you're ready to be done," She said from experience.

"God yes." Sharon's eyes closed. "Just a few more weeks. Come on, I just made a pitcher of tea." She knew that Vicki would want to see what they had done with the house before she left the kids there for an extended visit. Not because she was expected to approve or not, but just to set her mind at ease. Sharon thought she might feel the same way if their positions were reversed.

Andy had Charlie hanging upside down from one arm while Nicole was balanced easily against his hip with the other. "Anyone know these kids?"

"I wouldn't shake him up too much if I were you," Vicki warned with a smirk, "we just had lunch."

"What?" Andy cocked his head to look down at the wildly cackling Charlie. "You ate without me? Did you bring me any?"

"Nope." The five-year-old squealed. "We had burgers… and milkshakes."

" _And_ milkshakes?" Andy looked skyward. "Well I guess you're not going to want Sharon's spaghetti for dinner then, huh? I'll just have to eat it all."

"No way!" Charlie giggled as he was carried, upside down, into the house.

Once they were inside, Nicole squirmed to get down. The minute she was on her feet, she ran to Sharon. She reached up and laid her hands on the woman's belly with a smile. "Baby."

"Soon," Sharon promised her. Nicole had started asking, every time she saw them, if it was time for the new baby yet. She swept a hand over her hair. "We finished your room. Do you want to see it?"

"Yes!" Nicole took her hand and held on tightly as they moved to the stairs.

Andy set Charlie on his feet and instructed him to take his bag and follow. "Put it in Nikki's room right now," Andy told him. "The paint is still wet in yours."

Vicki looked around the first floor. It was definitely coming together. Some of the furniture was, while not exactly new, newer than he had at the old apartment. "It's looking good," she told him. "How are things?"

He shrugged. Andy pressed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Good. Sharon's exhausted, but she's doing great. She's already on maternity leave and school wrapped up a couple of weeks ago. I think it helps that she's got the house to focus on, though. She's got that whole nesting thing going on right now. It's good, you know." He looked down. "It's her first time and we already did all this a couple of times. I'm trying to remember that, but I think it bothers her sometimes. I don't get as excited about the little things as she does."

"Are you still being a macho pig?" Vicki smiled knowingly at him. He was okay most of the time, but during both of her pregnancies she wanted to strangle him often. "I can't imagine that she is liking it anymore than I did."

Andy rolled his eyes at her. "So I want her to take it easy? I don't get what the big deal is!" He threw his arms up in exasperation. "I mean, come on! She doesn't have to do _everything_." Wasn't it just last week that he was sleeping on the couch for two nights in a row because he pissed her off? There were times when their relationship seemed pretty normal, and others when it was volatile, and all because she was moody. He was also an ass, and that didn't help much. What he wouldn't tell Vicki, or probably even admit to Sharon, was that sometimes he poked at her just to get her irritated at him. It was the way her eyes flashed and her cheeks glowed when she was aggravated, damn but she was beautiful.

"I'll take that as a yes." Vicki walked around him toward the base of the stairs. "Charlie, Nic, I'm leaving," She called. She smiled as the kids came down the stairs toward her. She held out her arms. "Come here, monkeys. Be good for dad, okay? Don't give Sharon a hard time." She hugged both of them for several minutes but she knew that if she didn't leave now, it would just get harder. It would be the first time that she had been away from them for more than a couple of nights. Vicki looked up as Sharon came down the stairs behind the kids. "If you need anything," she reminded her, "please call. These two can be a handful, and I know that Andy's hours can go long…"

"We will be okay," Sharon smiled gently as Charlie and Nicole hugged their mother tightly. "But I will remember to call if I need to."

"They will be fine, Vic." Andy leaned against the entry to the living room, hands in his pockets again. "I promise." He would call her in a couple of days and arrange a lunch date for her and the kids. He knew it wasn't going to be easy being separated from them for so long. He thought Sharon might need a break by then anyway. His gaze moved to the kids and he clapped his hands together. "Who wants to help me plant Sharon's pretty flowers?" Both kids jumped and shouted with excitement. "Alright, let's go," he jerked his head toward the front yard.

While Andy kept the kids occupied, Sharon walked Vicki to her car. The other woman reminded her of the kid's schedules, which were already written down and affixed to the front of the fridge with a magnet. There was also a copy in both of their bags, just in case. After Vicki had finally gone, Sharon rejoined her husband and step kids. He still wouldn't let her help him, but she sat in the shade of the porch and watched. She marveled at how good he was with them. She didn't have to wonder what kind of father he would be; she was able to see it for herself. As he helped Nicole gently cradle a small seedling in her hands before placing it the flowerbed, Sharon realized that he was right.

She was falling in love with him.

 **-TBC-**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

A few weeks later, after eighteen hours of labor and a c-section because the baby was still breech and couldn't be turned, their daughter was born. Sharon was still unconscious following the surgery, but she was doing great. Andy was seated beside her bed, the baby in his arms. "Your mom is going to be so mad at me," he told her.

Sharon had insisted, right until the moment they had wheeled her to the OR, that it was a boy. Andy grinned when the baby yawned. They had both had a very long day. Sharon had gone into labor just before dawn and Vicki had met them at the hospital to pick up the kids. Because she had wanted a natural birth they had spent the day pacing and breathing through contractions, hoping the baby would turn on its own, and finally when it hadn't, the doctor had tried to do it. It hadn't worked, and even though neither of them was in distress, he advised against trying to deliver breech. Sharon had reluctantly agreed, and within the hour they had her prepped and on an operating table.

They brought the baby to him half an hour later. She was squirming and crying her displeasure for the entire world to hear. Andy joined her in the nursery while the medical staff finished with Sharon. He and the baby joined her after she was moved back to her room. They warned him that she would be out of it for a while. On top of the anesthesia and the pain medication that they had given her, she was exhausted from laboring all day. Andy held the baby while her mother slept and waited for the opportunity to introduce them.

He was completely enamored with his new daughter. She was small, weighing in at only six and a half pounds. She seemed far more delicate than even Nicole had been when she was born. She was also the very picture of her mother. A soft groan drew his attention and Andy looked toward the bed. A glance at his watch told him that it was getting close to sunrise. They had been at the hospital for almost twenty-four hours. Andy stood up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed when his wife shifted, struggling toward consciousness.

He cradled the baby in one arm and swept her hair back from her face with his free hand. He smiled when her eyes fluttered open. "Hey beautiful. Welcome back."

"Hey." She whispered. Her eyes closed again for a moment. She shifted on the bed and grimaced in pain. "Hm. What happened?"

She was still pretty groggy. Andy's thumb stroked her temple and the curve of her cheek. "Someone has been waiting all night to meet you," he told her. He knew the memories would come back as she woke up. Andy shifted the baby in his arms and held her up so that Sharon could see her. "Say hello, momma."

She hummed again. Sharon's eyes blinked open. She focused on the bundle in his arms. Her eyes widened as her mind cleared. "Oh," she whispered. "Hi." She reached out and traced a single finger along the curve of the baby's cheek. She took in the color of the blanket and smiled. "A girl?"

"Yep." Andy grinned crookedly at her. "Seventy percent chance, you know." He reached for the button on the side of the bed and helped her sit up. Once she was situated he laid the baby in her arms. Andy sat beside her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. "She's pretty great."

"Yes." She was too enthralled with her to do more than stare. Sharon watched her squirm and yawn. Her eyes blinked open, revealing irises of a dark blue. She suspected they might turn brown at some point. "She's perfect."

"So are you." He kissed the side of her head. "I love you."

"Hm." Sharon laid her head against his. "Me too," she whispered. She looked up at him, eyes bright and suspiciously damp. Her fingers were gentle when they touched his jaw. It had started all wrong, but they seemed to have gotten to the right place. "What are we going to call her?"

Despite her insistence that the baby was a boy they had discussed girl names too. "I like the one you chose," he told her. "Emily after your grandmother. Marie after mine. I don't think Richard is going to suit her very well, and I have a feeling your grandfather would have agreed with me."

"No," she chuckled quietly. "I don't think it will either." Sharon turned her attention back to the squirming bundle in her arms. "Emily Marie Flynn," she murmured. "Yes, I like that a lot. Welcome to the world, Emily."

Andy rested his chin against her shoulder. He reached around her to cup the baby's head. His eyes closed as he turned his head and nuzzled his wife's neck. "Thank you," he whispered.

She leaned her head against his. Sharon hummed as her eyes closed. She didn't know what she expected when they started out, but it wasn't this. She settled against him. For just a little while longer it would just be the three of them. She would enjoy this feeling, this bliss, for as long as she could.

They didn't release her to go home for three days. Vicki and Andy decided that they would wait until Sharon was settled at home with Emily before she brought the kids by to meet their new baby sister. Sharon was grateful for the respite. She adored Andy's kids, but they had exhausted her during those final days of her pregnancy. Now she just wanted the chance to settle in with Emily and find a new routine.

Nicole was completely amazed with the new baby, but Charlie was less than impressed. He wasn't impressed when Nicole was born either, Andy told her, at least not until she could do something interesting like crawl.

Whatever she had felt, before the baby was born, about Andy already having experience as a parent, Sharon was thankful that one of them knew what they were doing. Sharon's mother came to stay with them during that first month. Her father visited too, but he had to return to Chicago after only a few days. Once her mother had gone home, the real fun began. Emily didn't like to sleep. She would cry from feeding to feeding. Andy mentioned it to Vicki in passing and she reminded him that Charlie had been a colicky baby too.

They spent plenty of nights walking the floor with her, but after having already gone through it once, Andy was able to spare Sharon a lot of the sleepless nights that he and Vicki had experienced when Charlie was that age. Nicole, he joked, was easier by comparison. The second baby usually was, according to his mother. Sharon informed him, in no uncertain terms, that one was more than enough as far as she was concerned.

Vicki and Pat were married just before Emily's first birthday. By that point shuffling the kids between two homes had become second nature. What Charlie and Nicole couldn't seem to understand was why Emily didn't get to go with them when they went to their other house.

Sharon had gone back to work when Emily was a few months old, but law school would wait a little while longer. By the time she was ready to start thinking about going back for her final year, Sharon was pregnant again.

"Hey. She out finally?" Andy came into the room that he shared with his wife. He smiled at the sight of Emily curled against her mother's side, head resting against Sharon's hip. Her dark hair was curling in all directions but she seemed to finally be asleep. He had gone down to catch the last of the game and make sure the house was locked up before turning in for the night.

Sharon's gaze drifted from the book in her hand to the child sleeping against her. "Just." She swept a hand over Emily's head and pushed her hair back from her face. The toddler hadn't wanted to go down tonight. She was just coming off an ear infection. To avoid a tantrum while she was still a little ill, Sharon had laid down with her in their bed. She didn't make it a habit often, but tonight was the exception to the rule.

"I'll get her." With practiced ease, Andy lifted the sleeping toddler without rousing her. He cradled her against his shoulder and kissed his wife before straightening. He carried her into the room next door and tucked her into her own bed. He made sure that the gate at the top of the stairs was firmly latched before he returned to his wife. Sharon remained where he had left her, propped against two pillows and reading a novel of some kind. She would tell him about it later, but at the moment, he had more than talking on his mind.

She spared him a glance as he crawled up her body. Sharon's brow arched when he tugged the book out of her hand and tossed it onto the mattress beside them. "Yes?" She asked at length. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, you can help me, alright." As he moved up the length of her body, Andy drew her nightgown up her legs. His hands moved up her thighs and over her hips to settle against her waist. He leaned over her and drew her bottom lip into his mouth. They hadn't been together in a while and he missed her.

"Hm." Sharon hummed against his mouth. She smiled when his hands danced up her sides. When his hands cupped her breasts, hers circled his wrists. Sharon kissed him back, but she drew his hands away from her body. "No," she murmured against his mouth. She kissed the tip of his chin and then she pushed him away from her.

He flopped on the mattress beside her with a frown. "No?" She rarely said that, and never when they had gone a few weeks without managing to find time for each other.

"No." Sharon reached for her book again. Rather than reopen it, she placed it on the table on her side of the bed and rolled onto her side, facing the wall.

He continued to frown at her back. When she reached up to turn off the lamp, Andy moved behind her. His arms wrapped around her. He kissed her shoulder and then her neck. Then he pressed himself against her bottom and scraped his teeth across her pulse point. "No?" he tried again, voice rumbling thickly. Through her gown, his hands found her breasts again. Her nipples were already hard. His thumbs teased them. He heard her breath catch and he smiled against her neck. "Come on, baby. It's been too long."

"And it's going to be a little longer." Sharon tried to shrug him off but he tweaked her nipples and she barely managed to hold back a moan as heat moved through her. "Andy, I said not tonight."

He sighed. His shoulders slumped. He nuzzled her neck but moved his hands further down her front. "What's going on with you?"

Sharon drew a breath and let it out slowly. She took one of his hands in hers and drew it down her front. She pressed it low, against her abdomen, just above the scar from her cesarean. Her stomach was already hard and beginning to curve outward with the evidence of the child growing inside. She had been so tired and busy lately, she hadn't even realized that she had missed a couple of periods. She had only gone to the doctor because it was time for her yearly physical. "That," she told him. "That is what is going on with me."

It took him a minute to figure out what she was trying to tell him. When he did, Andy's head fell against her shoulder. "Aw hell." They had agreed that they weren't going to have anymore. Sharon didn't want to do it again and he was good with that. They had three kids between them, and that was more than enough.

"Hm." Sharon rolled on to her back and looked up at him in the barely lit room. "Well, at least this time we're already married and you don't have to propose naked."

"That is a plus." He propped his head in his hand and sighed again. "How long?"

"A couple of months." She shrugged at him. "Labor day weekend, if I had to guess." Despite how complicated their lives were about to get, she had to smile. "We had a very good time after the barbecue at Vicki and Pat's."

"Oh right." He looked away, a grin slowly forming on his lips. His ex-wife and her husband had offered to keep Emily for them. It wasn't often that they were able to have time for themselves, without their daughter present. Nicole had wanted to have a sleepover with her sister, and so… they had come home alone.

"Mmhm." Sharon rolled away from him again. "So you can understand why I want you to keep that thing away from me for a while."

He looked down at the back of her head for a moment. His eyes narrowed. A mischievous grin curved his lips. "Why? The damage is already done." His hands settled against her hips and he thrust against her.

"Why?" Sharon groaned. She rolled onto her back and glared at him. "Because I'm exhausted. My breasts hurt, and I just don't want to." She placed a hand against his face and pushed him away from her. "Now go to sleep, you're bothering me."

Andy flopped backward on the bed, but he caught her arm and pulled her with him. When she was sprawled against his chest, he curled an arm around her shoulders. "Fine." He managed to sound plenty aggrieved about it. His hand moved into her hair. His fingers were gentle as they stroked the back of her head. He knew she was worried. He had made sergeant, so they had the extra income now, but they were still barely getting by. "We'll figure it out," he told her. "It'll be okay." He didn't know how they would make it work, but they would find a way.

Sharon chewed on her bottom lip. "Promise?" This wasn't what they had planned, but then, none of this had been in either of the plans.

"Yeah," he rumbled quietly. "I promise. Whatever we gotta do, Sharon. Everything will be okay." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. When she only hummed in response, he looked down at her. "Hey, look on the bright side. Maybe this time you'll get that boy you wanted so bad."

She chuckled quietly in the dark room. "Maybe." Sharon burrowed closer to him with a sigh. "I love you."

"I know." His fingers continued to stroke through her hair. He closed his eyes. "Just… tell me one thing, okay?"

"Hm?" Sharon lifted her head and looked at him.

"Why do you always wait until we're in bed to tell me that you're pregnant?"

Her lips pressed together. She snorted a laugh and lowered her head. She pressed her face against his chest while her shoulders shook. "Maybe," she said, with some amount of amusement, "because I know that is when I have your undivided attention."

"Yeah, well…" he pulled her down to lay against him again. "Maybe next time you can come up with something a little more creative."

"Oh, if there is a next time, I promise you, it will be very creative," she threatened. This was it. They couldn't undo what was already done, but Sharon had already decided that she wasn't getting pregnant again. She would get her tubes tied after the baby was born. It wasn't exactly done, as far as their religion was concerned, but no one at church needed to know about her medical history. Somehow, Sharon didn't think that Andy would object too strenuously at the idea.

"Yeah, just don't do anything too drastic, sweetheart. I've got four kids depending on me now."

Sharon's lips curved into a crooked smile. "Four kids, two wives and a Pat," she teased.

"You're not cute," he said blandly.

"Oh, I'm very cute." She snuggled in to his side. "Admit it, you love your husband-in-law. He amuses you."

"Thinking of ways to drop him on his head amuses me," Andy reminded her. "Sharon, are you trying to piss me off?"

"No," she drawled, "But by now, you have to admit, we are not alone in this."

Andy sighed. "Fine. Doesn't mean I gotta claim Pat though." He closed his eyes. "Go to sleep, or I'm going to have to talk you into doing all the nasty things you don't want to do tonight."

She chuckled softly and closed her eyes. As she was drifting off, Sharon made a mental note to remind him that they were going to have to figure out how to shuffle the rooms around. Life kept tossing them curve balls, and they were adapting the best way that they knew how. Sharon also reminded herself that she would need to tell Andy what else she had decided.

Law School was off the table. She wouldn't be going back. They were just too busy and she wasn't going to choose between her children and an education that she no longer felt as though she needed. She had chosen to sit the Detective's exam instead. She enjoyed the law, but had come to realize why it was that those around her did not appreciate lawyers very much. She already had a career. She also had a family, and it was time that she got off the patrol beat and made herself more available to all of them.

Andy would never admit it, but he blamed himself when she decided to forgo her final year at USC. Sharon had been very clear on what her dreams were when they married. He felt as though he had derailed her completely. Here she was, a beat cop with a kid and another one on the way, married to a guy that already had two kids and a failed marriage under his belt. He was doing everything he could to provide for everyone and make her happy, and he hated that she felt like she had to give up some part of herself to meet him halfway.

She tried to tell him otherwise, and Andy tried to believe her, but he carried the guilt of it with him. When she passed the Detective's exam he was proud as hell of her, but it felt like one more step away from who she wanted to be. He pushed it aside, buried it, while they made other plans. They talked about remodeling the house. Most of the repairs and redecorating that they planned to do when they moved in had been taken care of by the previous summer. With another baby on the way, they were running out of places to put the kids, and Nicole was getting to be too old to be stuck in the nursery with her younger sister.

The den behind the living room had gone unused, and instead had become storage space. They thought about moving those boxes down to the basement and tearing out the fireplace. They never used it. They could close off the room instead and it would be suitable enough for Charlie.

Andy called contractors and began pricing the project while Sharon talked to her parents about the holidays. It was Vicki's year to have Charlie and Nicole, and they had not seen Sharon's family since the previous Easter. Her parents were talking about getting a timeshare at a ski resort in Utah, but for now, they wanted everyone to come to their home in Chicago.

Sharon had only made the trip once since Emily was born. She had been barely six months old at the time, and wouldn't remember the trip to visit her grandparents. Andy had ended up having to work during that family vacation, and he had felt terrible about it, but he sent his wife and daughter without him. He wouldn't allow Sharon to postpone the trip, although that had been her first instinct. He and Vicki had both drifted a little away from their families after they moved to California. Andy was chalking that up as a lesson learned.

For Christmas Andy was able to join his wife and daughter as they made the flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. Emily was in awe of the flight. Her eyes had widened when they stepped out of the airport to catch a cab to the O'Dwyer residence.

Emily drew her arms close to her body and twisted in her mother's arms to look at her father. Her mouth formed a little 'o' as she shivered. "Cold," she whispered.

"You haven't seen anything yet, Baby girl." Andy took Emily from Sharon after the cab driver loaded their bags into the trunk of the car and held her while his wife slid into the cab's back seat. After he joined her, he held Emily on his lap. It was not until they had pulled well away from the airport and were on the highway that Emily got her first sight of snow.

She gasped as she leaned closer to the window. She pressed her nose against the cool glass and watched as they passed it, creating a white blur. "Fluffy."

"Yes it is." And wet, and cold, and miserable, Andy thought with a grin. He settled Emily down on the seat between him and Sharon before looking across at his wife. "You're quiet."

"Just thinking." She combed her fingers through Emily's hair. The toddler was still trying to crane her head up high enough to see the snow. "It occurs to me, this time it should go a lot better." Her other hand rested against her middle, where she was only just beginning to show. They had decided to wait and tell her parents about the new baby in person.

Andy grunted. "It doesn't matter. Your dad still hates me." He had flown out with Sharon the first time, too. It felt like the right thing to do. He wasn't going to let her face that alone. They had stood in her father's study, shoulder to shoulder, while she explained to the judge that she was pregnant, unmarried, and didn't foresee that changing anytime soon. Andy was glad that her parents had helped him change her mind, but he didn't imagine that her father's opinion of him had changed too much since then. Andy was still the bastard that had gotten his little girl pregnant.

"He does not hate you." Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "My father is actually very fond of you." When her husband only snorted at her, she sighed. "Okay, _fond_ might be a little bit of a stretch, but he doesn't _hate_ you, Andy. If it makes you feel any better, he feels the same way about my sister's husband."

She was trying very hard to spare his feelings. Andy cupped the back of her head and drew her closer. He pressed a kiss to her hair. "It's okay, Sharon. I would feel the same way if I were him. Actually, I probably will one of these days. I've got two girls. I know where he's coming from. Frankly, I got off easy. I'd shoot the dirtbag that put his hands on Nic or Em."

Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "Well, luckily for you, my father doesn't believe that violence solves anything. Although, I believe he might have been tempted." Her eyes sparkled at him. She had never seen the Judge so furious before. "In any event," she continued, "at least this time it shouldn't be as much of a surprise to either of them."

"Nope." He flashed a wide, crooked grin at her. His dark eyes had a devious gleam to them. "Now I'm legally and biblically allowed to put my hands all over—" he trailed off when she smacked his arm. "What? I am."

"I cannot believe that I married such a goofball." Sharon shook her head as she shifted her attention to the window on her side of the car.

Emily laid her head against her father's side. "My goofball," she told her mother.

"Way to go, Sharon." Andy rolled his eyes heavenward. To think, she was worried about the words that _he_ was teaching their daughter. He wrapped his arm around Emily. "Stick with me, kid. Mom's a bad influence. She's mean too."

The two year old nodded with all the seriousness of a child her age. "Yup." Her bottom lip jutted out. "No ice cream."

"Before supper." Sharon reminded her daughter. "No ice cream before supper." She smacked her husband's arm again when he laughed. "Stop that."

"Okay, okay," he sobered. "We'll be good." But he looked down at Emily and winked at her. His daughter giggled and his wife huffed. When Sharon folded her arms across her chest and looked away from him, he looked down at Emily again. "I'm in trouble. What's new?"

She nodded again. "Yup! Bad daddy." Emily made no attempt to move, however, and continued to rest her head against his side as the car made it's way through Chicago traffic.

By the time they had reached the affluent Lincoln Park neighborhood where Sharon had grown up, Emily had fallen asleep, and Sharon was speaking to her husband again. The car came to a slow stop in front of the large, gated brick house that her parents resided in. Andy took a deep breath before opening his door. "Here we go."

Sharon cast a warning look in his direction and got out of the car with a drowsy Emily in her arms. She balanced the little girl on her hip and waited as Andy and the driver got their bags out of the trunk. After he had paid the man and sent him on his way, he lifted their luggage and carried it up the brick walkway. "It will be fine," she told him again.

"That man hates me," he muttered again. "Don't blame me if you go home a widow."

" _Behave!_ " She hissed, and pinched his side. She had just enough time to plaster a bright smile on her face before the door opened. "Mom!" She shifted Emily in her arms and stepped forward into a hug.

While Genevieve gushed over her daughter and granddaughter, Andy maneuvered their bags into the foyer and sat them out of the way. When he straightened, he flashed a wide grin at Sharon's mother. "Mom!"

Genevieve's brow simply arched. Her dark hair was cut in a short, stylish bob that framed her face. It gave her the appearance of a woman that would not be trifled with. Her head inclined and she looked him over. "Andrew."

Emily covered her face with her hands and giggled. "Goofball!"

"Hm." Genevieve's lips pursed. Her son-in-law was pointing at her daughter, who had grimaced at the exclamation, a clear indication of where Emily had learned it. "Yes, I suppose that is correct." She lifted her granddaughter out of Sharon's arms. "You come with me, little miss. My, you've gotten so big." A smile broke her lips then and she decided to take pity on the tall man that was standing behind her daughter. "Hello, Andy." She tipped her face to the side and offered him her cheek. He was always so stiff and wary of them; it was hard to resist the opportunity to tease him. Once he had leaned forward to greet her, she gave his cheek a light pat. "Joseph is in his study."

Sharon snorted a quiet laugh when her husband groaned. The entire family was aware that her father had put the fear of god into him the first time that they met. "Andy, why don't you go and let Dad know that we're here. You can take our bags upstairs when you're done."

"Yeah. Sure. Love to." He turned where he stood. He only had a vague recollection of the house. "Is it still…" When Genevieve nodded her head in the direction that he was to go, he straightened. "Right." He walked away from them mumbling, "remembered the badge, forgot the vest."

She waited until he had moved out of view before she ducked her head and laughed. Sharon covered her mouth and cast an incredulous look at her mother. "You are terrible."

"Nonsense." Genevieve smirked. "We do the same thing to Mark when he's here," she explained. "I don't understand why both of our sons-in-law are so frightened of him. Joseph likes them both just fine."

"Mmhm." Sharon shook her head as she followed her mother toward the family room. "That's what I keep telling him…"

Andy took a deep breath and counted to twenty before he knocked on the big oak door that led into Joseph O'Dwyer's study. At the summons, he smoothed down his slacks and shirt and made sure that his tie was straight before stepping inside. He had been dreading this meeting during the entire flight from LA to O'Hare. "Sir."

Joseph looked up from the paperwork that he was reading. His glasses were perched on the edge of his nose. "Ah, Andrew, so you've arrived." He sat back in his chair and waved the young man toward one of the high backed chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat, my boy."

His voice was deep, and as he spoke, Andy recalled the lecture that he had gotten the first time he met the man. It was still ringing in his ears, even now, over two years later. He took a seat across from him and tried not to look as nervous as he felt. Sharon's father was a tall man, lean and broad shouldered, and with dark hair that had started to gray. "We got here just a few minutes ago."

"I see, I see." His fingers steepled together in front of him. "So, how was the flight? I take it everything went well."

"Yeah…uh, yes sir. Emily was pretty amazed by it all. Sharon slept most of the way." He shifted in his chair. Andy cleared his throat. "She'll tell you later, but she's decided not to go back to law school. I tried to talk her out of it," he began quickly, "I mean, to talk her out of _not_ going back. She's made up her mind, though." He had promised the Judge, when he married Sharon, that whatever happened he would make sure that she finished school.

"Yes, I thought that might happen." Joseph sighed. He was worried that the longer she waited to finish, that the odds of her going back grew smaller. It was disappointing, but not a great surprise.

"We…uh…" Andy scrubbed his thumb across his forehead and grimaced. "She's pregnant." He knew that she wanted to tell her parents while they were together, but there was no reason for her to know that he had already spoken to her father about it. "She doesn't have to work," he said, "I keep telling her that we can figure it out, but she's…" Andy trailed off with a shrug.

"Stubborn." Joseph shook his head. He couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I'm rather familiar with that particular trait of hers. Gets it from her mother." He placed his hands against the arms of his chair. "Well then, that's that." He nodded. "We gave it our best shot. No one can fault life for happening where it's meant to." The other man was almost squirming in his seat. Joseph decided to let him off the hook. "Now then, before the women catch us, how about a toast? That's two grandchildren down and none of the rest of the brood has seen fit to provide even one."

"Ah, well…" Andy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't drink. Unless you've got water?" He and Sharon had never told her parents that he'd had a drinking problem when they met. It was something that they had decided her folks didn't need to know about.

Joseph's eyes narrowed but he decided to let it go. "No water, but club soda. Actually, there's something one of my clerks introduced me to." He pushed out of his chair and walked over to the credenza on the other side of the study. There was a small fridge and stocked bar built into it. Joseph pulled a club soda and a bottle of cranberry juice out of the cooler. He mixed drinks for both of them and poured the cranberry and soda over ice cubes. Afterward, Joseph held one of the tumblers out for Andy to take. "It's got a little bit of a kick to it, without the actual _kick_ , if you know what I mean. I think you'll like it. What do you think?"

He gave it an experimental sip and nodded, surprised. "That's not half bad." The cranberry had a tang to it, and it cut the bitterness of the club soda. The judge was right, it had a bit of kick to it.

"Now then," Joseph nodded. "Ah yes, a toast. To my eldest daughter, may she always be as stubborn as her mother." His Genevieve, as he described her to anyone who would listen, including Andy on at least one occasion, was a bright and beautiful woman. She had a strength to her that amazed him, and a stubbornness that knew no equal. She had raised five kids, kept their household, engaged his colleagues, and continued to love him, _even_ when he didn't deserve it.

Andy laughed as their glasses clinked together. "Here, here. That I could drink to," he said, his words holding double meaning, even if her father wouldn't understand it.

Joseph regarded his son-in-law closely. "So then, before the ladies come looking for us, tell me about the older two," he said, referring to Andy's children from his first marriage. "I hope you brought pictures, Genevieve will not be happy if you forgot." They had only met the children on the one occasion, during their last trip to California, but Sharon talked about them often. It stood to reason that if Andrew was family now, so too were his elder children.

"Well…" Andy shrugged. "Charlie is playing baseball now."

The judge's brow arched. "Pitcher?"

"Catcher," he replied, "he's got a good arm, but his pivot is better."

"Ah!" Joseph clapped him on the shoulder and led him toward the door. "That's a good man, then. We should have you all out during the summer, take you up to Wrigley." Joseph flashed a crooked grin at him. "Show you how a real baseball team does it."

"Well yes sir," Andy nodded. "The Dodgers like to beat the Cubs too…"

 **-TBC-**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

 **Warning:** Rated for this chapter. NSFW.

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

As much as they had all enjoyed their Christmas vacation in Chicago, Andy was glad to be back in California. The nights were cold, but there was no snow. Once they were back home, life picked up and became busy again. Andy tried to make it home for dinner most nights, but it didn't always happen. Sharon had the same problem until she went on desk duty again. On top of that, he had picked up a side job working security at a car dealership a couple of nights a week. They were juggling a lot, but somehow they were making it all work.

On that particular night, Andy cleared the table and took over cleaning the kitchen while Sharon took Emily upstairs for a bath and story time. After he locked up the house, he followed them. The lamp was on in the nursery, but he found Emily and Sharon in their room. Andy leaned against the doorframe and watched them for a moment.

His wife was propped against a couple of pillows. She was wearing a pale pink bathrobe that was parted only slightly, just enough that her rounding stomach protruded. Emily was lying with her head against her mother's middle, speaking quietly while Sharon combed her fingers through her hair. He was only able to pick out a few of the words, Emily seemed to be carrying on a quiet conversation all of her own with the baby that was growing in her mother's belly.

Sharon must have sensed him there. Her gaze lifted and she smiled at him. It was a gentle curving of her lips. Her eyes were soft. There was contentment in them. Andy pushed away from the door and walked toward the bed. He lay down beside them and stretched out on his side. "How are my girls?"

Emily looked toward him. Her cheek was still resting against her mother. "Baby moved," she explained.

"Did she now?" Andy reached across and laid his hand against the curve of Sharon's stomach. Beneath his palm he felt a light fluttering. She wasn't far enough along yet for the movements to be overly distinct, but there was definitely a life growing in there. He knew now what held Emily's attention so completely.

"Yes _he_ did," Sharon replied with a smile. Her eyes danced in the low light from the lamp, looking almost emerald in her amusement. This time she was going to have her way.

Andy chuckled quietly. She was determined, but he wasn't convinced. They wouldn't know until the sonogram, but something told him that was another girl. Maybe it was his contrary nature, but he knew that Sharon was just as stubborn about it. "What do you think, Em?"

Emily crawled over to lie down in the circle of his arms. She sighed happily as she snuggled close. "We have had our bath," Sharon told him quietly, "our story, and I think we are ready for our bed."

"I think you're right." Andy wrapped his arms around his daughter. He stood with her and carried her to the other side of the bed so that she could kiss her mother goodnight. "Come on, little pip, let's get you tucked in."

"Night baby," Sharon waved as she was carried out of the room. She sank further into the bed with a sigh. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes. In the next room she could hear Emily saying her prayers. Sharon chuckled quietly as Emily put off bedtime for as long as possible by blessing not just their family, but her toys – each by name. Emily still didn't like to sleep, that much hadn't changed as she got older.

Andy shook his head when he stepped back into their room a little while later. It had taken another story before Emily finally closed her eyes and settled in to slumber. The gate at the top of the stairs was latched, but he left their bedroom door cracked, just in case she woke up during the night. "I would just like to point out," he said quietly, "if we get her anymore toys, we'll never sleep again."

Sharon hummed. Her hands stroked her belly. "You know, honey, I think sleep is a commodity that we should just give up on. I can't imagine that we're going to get a lot of it with two of them running around."

"Probably not." His knee sank onto the foot of the bed. Andy leaned over and pressed a kiss to one of her calves. He crawled slowly up the length of her body. His hands caught the edges of her robe and he parted it completely. She wasn't wearing anything underneath it. "You're a tease, you know that?" He pressed a kiss to one of her bent knees. His hand moved along the smooth skin. His lips followed, trailing a path up the inside of her thigh.

"Me?" Sharon threaded her fingers through his hair. "You're the one that's still dressed." Her eyes glittered deviously at him when he looked up at her over the curve of her belly.

"We can fix that," he told her. His hands moved over her hips and up her sides. He braced his hands against the mattress on each side of her. Andy kept his weight on his arms as he leaned over her. His lips were gentle against her stomach. He nudged her thighs apart and knelt between them.

She hummed as he trailed a path between her breasts and up her chest. Her neck arched for him. Sharon sighed when his teeth nipped playfully at the soft skin beneath her ear. She sat forward and let her hands slide underneath his t-shirt as their lips met. Her tongue traced the line of his lips, teased them apart. Her nails raked through the hair covering his chest while her tongue slid into his mouth.

Together they pulled his t-shirt up and over his head. Andy tossed it aside. His hands moved to her shoulders and he slid the robe down her arms. Then he nudged her back onto the pillows behind her. Andy sat back on his knees and gazed down at her. Her eyes were dark. Her hair was spread out around her, a curling and tousled mess following her bath. Andy leaned over her again. He drew her bottom lip into his mouth. "Damn, you're beautiful," he groaned.

"Liar." She moaned when his hands cupped her breasts. He lifted their swollen, heavy weight. His thumbs circled the nipples, already hard and aching for attention.

"Shh," he warned. Andy swallowed her next moan with a kiss as he rolled one of her nipples between his fingers. "Whatever you do, don't wake her up now." He was already hard. Andy rubbed the bulge in his jeans against the inside of her thigh. He sucked on her lower lip again before he drew away from her. He moved down her body. They're eyes met. The lust in hers made him twitch to be inside her.

Her hands moved into his hair. Sharon's nails scraped against his scalp when his mouth closed around one of her breasts. She barely suppressed the cry on her lips. Her hips bucked and she pressed herself against his thigh as his tongue circled the aroused flesh. "Andy," she was panting his name. It felt as though her body was one large, exposed nerve ending.

Andy reached up and clasped his hands around her wrists. He drew them away from him and leaned up to wrap them around the wooden slats of their headboard. "Hold on," he told her. He palmed the recently released breast as he took the other in his mouth. He twisted and tugged at her nipples until her back arched and her legs wrapped around him.

When he wasn't sure that she could take anymore, he sat back. His hands stroked up and down her thighs. Her arousal was glistening against the folds of her sex. Andy pushed his hands to the apex of her thighs and slipped his thumbs inward, to trace the inside of each hip.

Her hips thrust toward him. Sharon's hands tightened around the headboard while she tossed her head. He was teasing her, making her ache for him in a way that was almost more pain than pleasure. "I need you," she told him.

"Soon." Andy bent toward her. His arms curled beneath her and drew her toward him. He could smell her, the musky sent of her arousal. Andy hooked his arms beneath her thighs and planted his hands against her stomach. His large palms splayed across her rounded middle. Then he drew his tongue along her slit.

"Oh. My. _God_." Her hips tried to buck against him, but he kept her anchored to the bed. The pressure of his hands against her, while his tongue was sliding between her folds was almost too much. " _Andy_."

His tongue circled her engorged clit. He could feel the clenching of her muscles beneath his hands. Her thighs were trembling. He groaned at the taste of her. When Andy slid a finger into her, he thought he was going to have to cover her mouth. She turned her face into the pillows instead. Her hips rocked toward him as his hand moved, sliding that single digit inside of her. Then he added a second. He felt her walls tighten around them. He continued to trace her clit with his tongue, teasing her. When she was shaking beneath him, Andy drew his mouth away from her. He licked the taste of her off his lips and watched her, panting while her hips bucked against his hand.

He smirked at the way that her eyes flashed. He drew his hands away from her and sat back. He unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down. Sharon sat up and together they freed him from the denim. Andy grabbed one of the pillows and shoved it beneath her hips as he moved between her legs again. He captured her mouth as he sank into her, swallowing her cries as she stretched around him.

They moved together, slowly at first, savoring the feel until the need for release became too much. Then Andy leaned back again. He pressed his fingers against her clit, teased her as he thrust inside her. His thrusts were quick, but shallow. He knew that anything else would be uncomfortable for her at this angle, but he wanted to watch her as she fell apart. When her eyes rolled back and her back arched, he bit his lip. He was straining toward his own release, but there was something infinitely wonderful about watching Sharon fall over the edge first.

She pulled a pillow against her face, groaned into it as her hips bucked against him. She clenched tightly around him as she road each wave of pleasure. Andy waited for it to subside before he drew the pillow from beneath her. He leaned over her and turned his face into her neck as his pace picked up again. He thrust fast, filling her again and again until his body shuddered and his release spilled in to her.

He collapsed on his side beside her and rolled onto his back. While he struggled to breath, his hand reached out blindly and landed against her thigh. Andy stroked the soft skin and stared at the ceiling above them. "You okay?"

"Mmhm." She was more than okay. Sharon stretched. She laid her hand over his, but enjoyed the warm, languid feeling that settled over her in the aftermath of climax.

Andy clasped their fingers together. He tossed his other arm over his head. "God, I love you," he panted, chest still rising and falling quickly.

Sharon only hummed. Her eyes were closed. Her tongue swept out to wet her lips. "Me too," she managed. After another moment her head rolled toward him. "Think it'll still be like this with two of them?"

"Nah." He reached out and pulled her toward him. Andy curled his arm around her shoulders. "It'll be better."

She draped her leg across his and settled against him. Her hand stroked his chest. After a moment, she let it slide lower. Her finger traced the line of his softening shaft. When he jerked at the touch, she smiled. "You know, it's still early…"

He slanted a look at her. That devious gleam was back in her eyes again. Not since before Emily had they managed to spend an entire night enjoying each other. He thought about it for a moment before a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Sleep was a precious commodity, they'd best get used to not having it now.

The only downside to having stayed up late enjoying one another was the eventual arrival of morning. Emily found her way into their room before the alarm went off. She had a large stuffed puppy under one arm as she climbed onto the bed. She sat on her knees on the edge of the bed and shook her father's shoulder.

Andy grunted. He was sprawled on his stomach. Most mornings he didn't know why they bothered to set the alarm. Emily always woke them up first. Because of that, he had pulled on a pair of sweats before finally falling into a tired, satisfied slumber. Emily nudged his shoulder again and he cracked one eye open to look up at her. "It's early, baby."

"Nuh uh." She pulled her puppy up and held it against her chest. "Hungry, daddy."

He sighed. He ran a hand over his face and rolled on to his back. Andy cast a look at his wife. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and still sound asleep. "Okay." He pushed himself up. "Quiet," he warned Emily, when she hopped off the bed. He yawned as he joined her. He ushered the little girl out of the room and picked her up when they reached the stairs.

The kitchen was where Sharon found them a little while later. She had been lured by the smell of breakfast. Emily was on a stool at the counter, on her knees, watching intently as her father fried bacon and scrambled eggs. "There you are," she drawled, voice still thick with sleep. Sharon walked over and kissed the top of Emily's head before she leaned in to her husband's side. "Good morning."

"Morning." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Andy pressed a kiss against her hair before releasing her. "Juice is on the counter."

Sharon's lip curled. She would have rather had coffee. She sighed as she pulled down a glass and filled it. "Another reason," she told him, "to make sure this is the last one."

Andy laughed. He lifted the skillet off the stove and scooped the eggs into a bowl. He was planning on grabbing a cup of coffee on his way to the office, just to keep her from grumbling at him. On top of not being allowed to have it, the smell made her sick. "How are you doin' this morning?"

"Hm." Over the rim of her glass, her eyes sparkled at him. "Tired." She took another sip, but the gleam in her gaze told him that she didn't mind it. Sharon set the glass aside after another moment and lifted Emily off her stool. "Come on you, let's eat." Sharon carried her to the breakfast table and sat down with Emily across her lap.

After setting the food on the table, Andy pressed a kiss to her mouth. "I'm going to hop in the shower. What's the plan for today?"

"Daycare for this one, the doctor for me, and then I'll see you at the station." The sonogram wasn't until her next appointment, and while she appreciated that he tried, she didn't need Andy to make every doctor's visit with her.

"Sounds good." He kissed her again before he turned away. "Em, you're in charge."

"Yep!" Emily watched her mother fill a plate for them to share. Then she reached for a piece of bacon that her mother was tearing into small pieces for her. "Bite!" She leaned back against her mother's chest while she chewed. "Mmm."

"That's right." Sharon laid her cheek against the top of her head. "Daddy does a good job, huh?"

Emily nodded. She turned and pressed a piece of bacon against her mother's lips. "Momma bite."

Sharon nipped at her fingers. Emily giggled happily and then leaned against her again. Sharon cuddled her close as they went through their morning breakfast routine. "Did you have a good night?"

"Uh huh." Emily took the piece of toast that her mother handed her and nibbled at it. "I dream ponies."

"Ponies huh? We'll have to ask Daddy about that…"

Andy watched them from the kitchen door. It was the same every morning, at least when he wasn't called away on a case. There was a high chair not even a foot away from her, but Sharon would hold the baby in her lap while they both ate. He could hear them speaking quietly, and a conversation with a toddler might be filled with mostly nonsense, but his wife nodded and hummed in response to every word. When she looked up and caught him watching them, Andy winked at her.

Sharon blew a kiss at him before she turned her attention back to Emily. She had moved on from ponies to kittens, and Sharon was fairly certain she had mentioned wanting a new doll in all of that happy gibberish.

She was still in the kitchen when Andy came back downstairs. Sharon was at the sink, cleaning up the breakfast dishes while Emily played with her dolls in the living room. Andy dropped his jacket over the back of one of the stools at the center island before he walked over and leaned against his wife's back. His arms circled her waist. "You know," he said quietly, with his chin resting against her shoulder. "You could go back to school. You wouldn't have to rush off every morning to daycare and work. You could spend more time with the kids."

His hands settled against her middle as he spoke. Sharon only hummed in response as she reached for a towel to dry her hands on. She turned in his embrace and looked up at him. "I could do that," she agreed. "I don't want to, Andy. Yes, I love being here with Emily, but I like working too." She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. "We're in this together, you know. I love that you want to take care of us, but Andy, I don't need that. I'm happy with how things are." Her arms slipped around his neck. "I promise."

"Yeah, and I promised that you could finish school." He ducked his head with a sigh. "I don't want you giving that up because of me." He looked at her through his lashes. "It's not about the money, Sharon. We can figure that out. I can work extra security shifts."

"You could do that," she agreed. Sharon smoothed her hands down his chest and straightened his tie. "Andy, I'm not worried about the money. I just don't have the same passion for it that I used to. Besides, you're already working a second job. If you pick up anymore you won't be here. I would miss you. Emily would miss you." She kissed the tip of his chin. "This baby would miss you. When would you see Charlie and Nicole? We only get them two weekends a month as it is. Honey, I don't want you worrying about this."

He sighed. "Yeah, but in five or ten years I don't want you to regret what you had to give up because—"

Sharon pressed a finger to his lips. "The only thing that I regret is how stubborn you are. I haven't given anything up. Andy, I may not have crawled on top of myself and gotten pregnant but I wasn't beating you off with a stick either." She laughed when he rolled his eyes at her. Sharon reached for one of his hands and laid it against her stomach. "We didn't plan this, any of it, but I'm happy. Okay?"

"If you're sure?" It was the last time he was going to ask her about law school. He had already made up his mind about that.

"Yes!" Sharon laughed again. "Now go to work, you're going to be late."

Andy huffed another sigh. "I'm going," he grumbled. He bent and pressed a kiss to her stomach, just beneath their joined hands. When he straightened, she was giving him a crooked, indulgent smile. Andy cupped the back of her head. The kiss that he pressed to her mouth was short and quick. "Love you."

"I love you too, now go!" She swatted at him with a dishtowel. Sharon rolled her eyes as she chased him out of the kitchen. "Oh, that man! Stubborn pain my a-"

"I can still hear you," Andy called from the foyer.

"I know!" Sharon shook her head as she went back to the dishes. She squeaked a minute later when she was turned. Her husband pressed her into the counter and kissed her hard. His tongue plunged into her mouth, stealing her breath. He pulled away before she could do more than hum in response. Her lips tingled, and her head was spinning.

He gave her bottom a playful swat and winked at her. "Bye."

Sharon watched him go. She waited until she heard him tell Emily goodbye and the front door closed behind him before she turned around again. "Trouble. He's nothing but trouble." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, however. She had a particular fondness for his brand of trouble. That man could irritate her like no other, but he could also make her laugh until she was gasping for air and snorting her amusement.

He made her happy. Sharon only wished she could make him believe that; she didn't need anymore than he was giving her now. Maybe someday he would see it.

He was what she needed.

 **-TBC-**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

 **Chapter 8**

 **Warning:** Still NSFW.

* * *

 ** _2017_**

Rain was falling in blinding sheets outside her hotel room. Sharon stood before the wide picture window and watched it. The city was almost completely obscured from her view. The darkness matched her mood. She pulled her cardigan more tightly around her body with a sigh. Where had it all gone so wrong?

She had asked herself that question more than once over the last twenty years. They were once so happy, and then it had changed. Since the divorce papers had arrived, her mind had been filled with images and memories. It was like having a film running on a constant loop, playing out the pieces of a life that had fallen to ruin. She was trying to pinpoint when, exactly, the end had come.

Had she looked away? Had her focus shifted just enough, and just long enough that she had missed all the signs and clues that would tell her that they were in trouble. How had they gone from being so happy to living apart? Even when they had struggled, they had done it together. Or so she had thought.

A quiet knock echoed through the room. Sharon's eyes closed. She didn't have to guess who it was. There was no one else that knew she was there. Sharon drew a breath and let it out slowly before she crossed the room to open the door. "Andy."

He didn't say anything. He stood staring at her for a while. Andy tried to talk himself out of driving over to see her, but in the end, just couldn't seem to stop. He thought of nothing else after she left the divorce papers. He moved into the hotel room, looming over her, even as she stepped back. He pushed the door closed behind him. His hands moved in to her hair. Andy took a step closer and tipped her head back. His jaw clenched.

"Why is it," he said finally, "even when I try to let you go, I just can't?"

Sharon shook her head. She couldn't speak. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she got lost in his eyes. His dark gaze was burning through her. How long had it been? How long since he had touched her like this? She hummed when his head lowered. Her chest felt tight, her breathing labored. She could feel his heat. When his hands moved to her shoulders, her eyes closed. His hands slid down her arms to circle her wrists. Her arms were drawn over her head as he walked her backward. The wall, when she bumped against it, was cool against her back. Andy clasped her hands together and pressed them against it. Sharon's eyes blinked open and she looked up at him again.

There were tears in her eyes. Her bottom lip was red and swollen. Andy's head lowered. His lips brushed against her cheek, almost but not quite touching her. He could feel her breath, warm against his face. They shared air for a moment. She was a fire in his blood that could not be extinguished, no matter how long it had been or how hard he tried. It was why he had never bothered with the papers before. He suspected that was her reasoning too. He hoped that it was, but it had been a long time since he thought he could read her, truly read her.

His lips ghosted over her cheek again. He kissed her temple. Their cheeks brushed, and although his lips tingled, and he could almost taste her, he hesitated for a moment. He didn't know if he would be able to let her go again. "What do you want, Sharon?"

She hummed again. Her back arched. "If we knew that," she whispered, "this wouldn't be so hard." Her teeth sank into her lip again. Ricky's graduation from Stanford. That was the last time that he touched her. It was the last time she allowed herself to be alone with him. Sharon felt like she was drowning in him. She resolved to stop. They were still broken. No matter their physical attraction, there was so much pain and separation between them; she hadn't felt like they could be fixed. It was confusing, to them and the children. Sharon made a point of staying away from him, of trying to fully move on with her life. She wasn't very successful, because here she was. Here they were. Still broken, still longing for something that she wasn't sure existed any longer. "What do _you_ want, Andy?"

He drew one of her hands down. It was still clasped tightly within his larger palm. Andy studied the fingers. His thumb traced the line of her left ring finger. There was nothing there. The skin didn't even bear any sign of discoloration. There was no evidence at all that she had ever worn his ring. He could remember, in vivid detail, the day he placed it there. They had gotten married in Sharon's church. There weren't many people present. Just their parents and her siblings, a few friends from work. Neither of them had wanted a large ceremony, considering the reason they were getting married.

Andy had looked her in the eyes as he said his vows. He recalled that his heart was beating so hard against his chest that he was afraid everyone could hear it. He hadn't loved her then, but he swore to himself that he would. As he vowed before God and their families that he would honor and cherish her, he made a silent vow to himself that he would not screw this one up. He swore that he would love her, no matter how long it took.

It wasn't hard to fall. She was equally as nervous that day. She had looked up at him with those large green eyes, much as she was doing now, and took a tremulous breath before she repeated the same vows. Her fingers trembled as she placed the ring on his finger. The ring that he still wore. It wasn't hard to love her at all. She met their situation with such determination that he was swept along with her. He believed that they would make it. He believed that _he_ would make it.

That didn't happen. He failed her. He failed their kids. He failed himself. She had every reason in the world to walk away from him. He got lost in the dark and she tried to save him. The problem was, and it was something that he understood better now, he had to save himself. Andy had to climb out of the darkness all on his own. He had to learn to be sober for himself before he could do it for her or the kids. He wanted her back for so long, God only knew how badly he had longed for her. Andy was just afraid that he would hurt her again. He was afraid that if he slipped, if he sank back into oblivion, he would pull Sharon with him.

So he stayed away. He tried to drown his needs in other ways. When his body longed for her until it became a physical ache, he turned to other women. There was never anyone that he wanted to stay with; no one who could captivate him in quite the same way. It was Sharon. It was always Sharon. He would die loving her. That was something that he had already accepted.

When she left him, moved out of state and took the kids with her, he thought he would drown in misery. He wanted a drink so badly that he could taste the bourbon on his tongue. He didn't do it, though. He fought through that, he clung to his sobriety as though it was a life preserver, and maybe it was.

Here they were. So much time and distance between them. Still loving. Still hurting. Andy drew her hand to his mouth. He kissed her fingers while he watched the emotions in her eyes. There was pain and doubt, and so much longing. There was also regret. It was a mirror of everything that he felt.

"You," he said gruffly. "That's all I ever wanted."

She made a low keening sound when their lips finally met. He traced her bottom lip with his tongue, teased her mouth open. Their fingers were clasped tightly together. She arched toward him, tried to press herself into his heat. All too soon he broke the kiss. Sharon lurched forward, eyes wide and startled. He turned her before she could say anything. Andy shrugged out of his jacket and reached for her sweater. He pulled it down her arms and tossed it aside. He pressed her hands against the wall and leaned against her back. His lips moved across her shoulder, to her neck.

"God." Sharon's head fell back. Her bottom bumped against the bulge in his pants. Sharon kept one hand against the wall and reached back with her other to grip his thigh. She rubbed herself against him, hips moving in a slow, forward motion.

Yes." His tongue traced a path up the side of her neck to her ear. He drew a hand between them and slipped it beneath her simple cotton shirt. He opened the clasp of her bra. Andy's hand slipped around her body and he palmed her left breast. "That's it, sweetheart," he muttered when she thrust herself against him. He let his calloused palm drag across her sensitive nipple until it was impossibly hard, straining toward him. Then he rolled it between his fingers, tweaking it between thumb and index finger.

"Oh!" Her head fell forward again. Sharon rested her forehead against the cool surface of the wall. " _Andy._ " She whimpered when he drew his hand away from her. "Don't stop," she demanded.

"I'm nowhere near done with you." He promised. He was only getting started.

Her head turned toward him and he captured her mouth. The kiss was almost bruising in its force. It was all teeth and tongue, heat and desire. He wasn't surprised when she returned it. Sharon had always given back as good as she got. She was never a meek lover or a woman that was willing to wait for what she wanted. She had no qualms of taking it for herself.

Sharon turned in his arms. Her hands curled into the front of his shirt. She was either going to pull him closer or push him away, he wasn't sure which. He didn't think she was either, despite what she'd said. Andy's hand slipped down her side to settle against her hip and he pulled her closer, so that her body was flush against him.

Desire came with a flood of memories. The heat of him, the taste of him. It was all there in the back of her mind. She ran from it, buried it, and tried to erase it from her memory by throwing herself in to her work and allowing another man, one that was _safe_ and couldn't possibly make her feel, meet the needs of her body.

Before she could fully comprehend the fire that was building in her center, he let go of her. She took a step back and her eyes blinked open. " _What_?" She was close to being angry with him. What point was he trying to prove? That her body still wanted him even if the heartache of their past was still hanging heavy in the air between them.

He jerked his head toward the far wall. "Close the curtains." His body was stiff. The muscles of his arms and back bunched as he stood there, completely still. He'd had enough rain for one lifetime, and the things that he was about to do to her, no one needed to witness.

Sharon turned. She gazed across the room. She blinked a couple of times before she walked over and pressed her fingers against the switch on the wall, nearest the window. With a low whirring sound, the curtains slid closed, and the room was plunged further in to darkness. The only light was a small lamp beside the desk. The moment the curtains were closed she could feel the heat of him pressed against her back. His hands moved to her middle while his lips moved along the length of her neck. A moan was wrought from deep inside her as pleasure tingled along every nerve ending. God but he knew exactly how to touch her, that, at least, was not erased from his memory… or hers. " _Andy_." She didn't know if she was asking him to stop or to keep going.

"I didn't come here to fuck you," his lips moved against her ear. His hands slid up her front until he was cupping her breasts. His teeth scraped against her pulse point. He felt her shudder against him and heard the quickly drawn breath. Andy moved against her, let her feel the growing proof of his arousal against the curve of her bottom. "But I'm going to," he told her, the decision made the first moment he touched her.

"Oh god." His words sent a thrill of heat right through her. It settled low in her belly and spread downward. She decided that she wanted him. Even if just in this moment, she wanted his body moving against hers. "Yes," she hissed, and rocked back against him.

Andy pulled her away from the window. He turned them until they were facing the bed. While he continued to kiss a path down her neck, his hands slid down until his fingers encountered the edge of her shirt. Andy lifted it, slowly, until she could feel the brush of the cool air that surrounded them in the hotel room caressing her flushed skin. His calloused fingers moved along smooth skin. He felt her stomach muscles dance beneath his touch and she moaned again. She rubbed her bottom against his arousal, even as she lifted a hand to grip the back of his neck and turned her head to capture his lips again.

While their tongues moved together, teasing and sucking, his hands brushed the undersides of her breasts. Her back arched. His thumbs rubbed the undersides of her nipples. They were already swollen and erect. She made a low keening sound when his thumbs finally rubbed over the sensitive flesh. He pinched one between his fingers, rolled it playfully before repeating that action with the other. He swallowed the sound she made and did it again.

His hands continued to massage her breasts, teasing her nipples until their kiss broke and she rested her head against his shoulder. While she panted through swollen lips, he molded her flesh to his hands. Andy's teeth tugged at her ear before scraping across the sensitive spot below it. "Take off your pants," he ordered.

She exhaled a shaking breath as her hands moved to do just that. She could feel her arousal, coating her flesh, soaking her underwear. Sharon hummed as she fumbled with the waistband of her cotton yoga pants. Her fingers brushed against her abdomen and the sensation that created drew a gasp from her. She pushed the material down her thighs and felt cool air touch her damp skin. "Andy." She panted his name quietly. She wanted him. He knew that she wanted him. She knew that he felt the same. She could feel him, hard and hot against her ass. Her thighs rubbed together as she worked her pants down her legs and finally stepped out of them. She hummed at the friction that created. With every movement she rubbed against the bulge of his arousal, still contained within his pants.

He gave her nipples another teasing twist before he let go of her. His cock was aching. It twitched at the thought of being buried balls deep inside of her. He gripped the hem of her shirt and swept it upward, nudging her arms as he went to rise so that he could pull it over her head. Only then did he turn her around. He let her bra fall to the floor, forgotten at their feet. His eyes wandered over her body, from the swollen, aroused breasts to the thin excuse for silk that was passing as her underwear. His cock twitched again. Andy jerked his head toward the bed. "Bend over."

She was not a woman accustomed to taking orders. It often chaffed when others attempted it. Sharon took a step back, and then another, until her legs bumped against the side of the bed. She stood there for a moment and hooked her thumbs into the sides of her panties. She pushed them down her thighs while he watched her, and enjoyed the way his eyes darkened, growing almost black with desire. Her inner walls clenched, anticipating the feel of him, as she stepped out of the flimsy material. Then Sharon turned and lowered herself onto her knees beside the bed. Her hands gripped the edge of the mattress as she leaned over it and thrust her ass toward him.

He felt his balls tighten at the sight. It sent an ache through his cock and straight to his center. Andy grabbed the edge of his sweater and jerked it over his head. The cool air was almost a balm to his over heated flesh. He worked open the fastening of his trousers next, and then pushed them down his legs, along with the underwear that had kept his arousal constrained. It bobbed in the cool air, strained toward her. Andy toed off his shoes and kicked his pants aside before he moved to his knees behind her. His hand curled around the base of his aroused flesh. It strained and throbbed. He stroked it against the curve of her ass, from her swollen, desire slicked folds, to the cleft of her bottom. She thrust against him and his jaw clenched. He placed his other hand against the small of her back and stroked it slowly up her spine, and then he gripped her shoulder. He groaned, low and deep, as he pressed closer. He could feel the heat of her as he slid his cock through her folds. He let her arousal coat him until his straining flesh was glistening with it.

She threw her head back; her breath came in short pants. Her back arched and her nipples rubbed against the crisp material of the sheets. Sharon keened quietly. It was added friction to her already desire hazed state. She shivered as his hard length stroked along her swollen folds again. The head of his arousal pushed against her swollen clit and her hips jerked. He did it again, and then a third time and she bit her bottom lip. "Dammit" she muttered, "just do it." She needed him inside her. She needed to feel him.

He had known that she would ask; _demand_ what she wanted of him. His hand gripped her shoulder as he positioned himself. Andy pushed inside her slowly, just the head of his cock to feel how tight she was. He panted, body stiff as she stretched. Then he drew back and thrust forward once more, this time filling her to the hilt. They both cried out. She was tight, but not impossibly so. She was hot and wet and gripping him tightly.

" _Fuck_." Her head fell forward until it was resting against the mattress. The sudden sensation of fullness was almost too much. It was all heat and pleasure, with just a hint of pain. He had known what she wanted, what she _needed_. They remained like that for just a moment longer, and then before she could draw another breath he drew back and thrust into her again.

He promised to fuck her and that was exactly what he did. He thrust hard and fast, grunting each time his cock bottomed out inside her. He gripped her hips with both hands, leveraging both of them as he took her body for his pleasure, and gave her pleasure in return. She was hardly a docile lover, however. Sharon's back arched and she thrust in counter rhythm to him. When she reached down and slid her fingers between her thighs, he hissed a breath at the feel of her nails sliding along his cock as it moved in and out of her. He punished her by changing the angle of his thrusts, until he knew he was hitting just the right spot.

"Yes," she grunted. She saw stars every time that he filled her. Her fingers stroked her clit until the pleasure became almost too painful.

Andy's lip curled. He leaned in to her back as he felt his balls begin to draw up and the heat of his release move through his swelling cock. "Dammit, Sharon, I'm almost there."

She threw her head back. Her fingers stroked her clit again, and when she felt his hand sliding around to cup her breast, his fingers twisting at her nipple, she gave a low sound as the wave crested and her release swept over her. "Andy, yes," she whispered, jerking against him as her body clenched tightly.

"That's it." He pressed her down, his hand on her back again and let himself go, pounding into her until his release came, hot and thick and filling her. He continued to thrust until there was nothing left, and they were both spent. Only then did he collapse against her back, weight on his knees and his arms draped around her. He tucked his face against her neck while he panted for air. He was still buried deeply inside her. Her body was still contracting around him, though not as strongly.

After a moment he sat back and drew her with him. His arms remained wrapped around her. He kissed her shoulder, and then her neck. He buried his face in her hair. The only way to get her out of his system was to burn her out, or destroy himself trying. If they were ending, finally and completely, it seemed right that they do it the same way that they had started. With enough heat and fire, and careless abandon to drown the pain.

 **-TBC-**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 _ **1990**_

"I hate you." It drew a surprised look from Sharon. Behind her sunshades, Vicki rolled his eyes. "Not like that." She sighed. The two women were seated beneath a large beach umbrella, watching while their husbands entertained the children. Andy was helping Charlie build the perfect sand castle while Emily stood at his shoulder, looking on with rapt attention. On the other side of the oddly shaped structure, Pat was helping Nicole construct princess towers. Vicki waved a hand at the baby that was sprawled across Sharon's chest, sound asleep. The little girl was barely a year old, and beneath her small body, it was obvious that Sharon was pregnant again. "Pat and I have been trying for two years."

"Oh." Sharon understood now. She hadn't realized that Vicki and Pat wanted more children. They seemed to do well enough with Charlie and Nicole, and as far as she and Andy knew, they enjoyed their time alone when the kids were with them. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Me too." Vicki shook her head. "Obviously, I can…" She waved a hand in the direction of her two kids. "Pat adores them both, but he wants a child of his own, too. I'm starting to wonder if it's ever going to happen." Her head tilted and she looked at Sharon again. "Andy can barely look at you cross-eyed and the two of you are announcing another one."

"Hm." Sharon laid her cheek against the top of the baby's head. Samantha was her little redheaded child. She and Andy had chosen only a single name. Sam. Then they had been graced with another girl. "Well, I would trade with you, but you already know what you're getting."

Vicki laughed. "Yes, actually, I do." She shifted on her beach chair and sighed. "You can keep him. I was paroled, the nice judge said I could rejoin civilization." Her eyes crinkled at the corners and she smiled when Emily got bored with the sandcastle and began to twirl about nearby. "I think you've got your hands full anyway."

"You can say that again." Sharon shook her head. Emily had begged and pleaded until she was allowed to join her sister at dance class. Nicole hadn't much cared for it after only a few lessons, but Emily was completely in love. She looked down at the baby when she shifted and sighed. Sharon stroked a hand down her back until she settled again. There was a lot of Andy in her. She had his temperament and eyes. A frown formed between her brows. Sharon's eyes closed for just a minute. There was a pain in her chest, a fear that she was afraid to put name to. "He's drinking again," she said quietly.

Vicki's head snapped around. "What?" She sat up in her lounger.

Her fingers combed gently through the wildly curling red locks atop Samantha's head. Sharon drew a breath and let it out slowly. "The first time was after Sam was born," she admitted. "He crawled into a bottle before I came home." The birth had been difficult, one perfect disaster after another. Sharon had hemorrhaged. They had almost lost her. Vicki and Pat had kept Emily for them, while she was in the hospital. "I was going to get my tubes tied after the dust settled, but…" She shrugged and cast a miserable look at Vicki. "We got busy, time got away from us, and then it just didn't happen."

Vicki frowned. She looked across the sand to where Andy was playing with the children. She hadn't seen him drunk or hungover in all the months since the baby was born. She thought she would recognize the signs. Her teeth ground together. She tried to control her anger and concern, but it was difficult. "He was afraid of losing you," she said, "but you said _drinking_?" If he was back in the bottle, she needed to protect her kids.

Sharon hummed. "When I told him that I was pregnant again… he was okay for a day or two, but, he went out with his partner to celebrate and I found him sleeping it off on the sofa the next morning. He hasn't done it again since. I know that he's worried, Vicki, but I'm worried about him." It wasn't only the possibility of another bad delivery. It was everything. "He's angry with me. I passed my Lieutenant's exam and the only position available is in Internal Affairs. He doesn't want me working at all this time, least of all in IA, but…" She couldn't afford to take the time off. Her car had died the previous spring and they were forced to replace it. They were finally doing the remodel on the first floor so they could move Charlie and make room in the nursery for the new baby. "He takes everything on himself," She said quietly. "All the worry, all of the guilt. It's his fault that I didn't finish law school, and he's the reason that I almost died, and…" Sharon sighed again.

"He's a macho pig." Vicki told her. "He's supposed to take care of you. He forgets too easily that you're a team. Yeah, I remember." She was able to relax. He wasn't getting wasted every night; he had just slipped a couple of times. It sounded like he was trying to stay above water and had just gotten pulled under once or twice. "I envy you, though, in a way." Her head inclined again. "You know what he sees every day. He doesn't have to hide that from you. He's not trying to bury that on top of everything else. I think that's where we went wrong. I was wrapped up in the kids. He didn't have me to share all the darkness with too." Vicki exhaled quietly. "Sharon, I can't tell you that it's going to be okay. I've been down that road with him. He looks fine," she acknowledged. "He doesn't act like he's looking for the next bottle. I know that you're worried, but the one thing that I know about Andy Flynn is that if he wants a drink, he's going to have one. Nothing that you say is going to stop him. He'll do it to spite you."

"Maybe I just needed to hear you say that." Sharon wasn't sure anymore. "I just don't want to lose him." She rubbed her lips together. "Both times… he didn't make excuses for it, he just said it wouldn't happen again. I don't know." She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think my head is just all over the place." She was exhausted, more so this time than with either of her previous pregnancies. She was chasing two kids, working longer hours. Her husband was trying to pick up the slack, but he worked long hours too. More times than either of them cared to admit, she and the kids had to get by without him.

"That's expected." Vicki smiled at her. "Keep an eye on him," she advised, "But if he isn't trying to stumble his way up the stairs every night, then don't worry about it." She didn't want to believe that they were headed in that direction again. She focused on where the sandcastle had collapsed. She laughed out loud when Charlie dumped a pail of water on his father before running away. Andy bolted after him, and within just a few steps, he had him hanging upside down from his shoulder.

"I think this belongs to you." Andy had carried the cackling Charlie back to the blanket and umbrella where the ladies had chosen to lounge while the children played. He dropped the snickering boy onto his mother's lap before collapsing onto the blanket beside Sharon's lounger. He swept his hand through his wet hair and leaned over to kiss her shoulder before reaching up to lay a hand against Samantha's back. "She okay?"

"Yeah." Sharon smiled down at him. She wouldn't tell him what she and Vicki had talked about. The two women had their secrets too. It was how they had learned to coexist, to share their children with this man that they had both loved. "She's just tired. It was a big day."

They had taken the kids to the zoo, and afterward decided to have a picnic lunch on the beach while they played and worked off a little excess energy. Vicki and Pat had met them for lunch and to make the exchange, since Charlie and Nicole would be going home with them.

"Not every day you get to feed a giraffe." Andy ran the back of his hand along one of the arms that Sam had draped across her mother's shoulder. "Want me to take her for a little while?"

"No." Sharon smiled gently at him. "We're okay. We're just enjoying the shade." She was feeling a little drowsy herself, a side effect of the heat, the long day, and the tiny human that was growing inside her.

Andy leaned over and pressed a kiss to her mouth. "Ew!" Charlie covered his face. "That is so gross." He twisted in his mother's arms. "Can I go play in the waves?"

"Ankle deep only," Vicki warned him, as he was already climbing off of her. "Help Pat keep an eye on your sisters." She would be watching them too, but Charlie was the oldest, and they were teaching him to look out for his younger siblings.

"Okay!" He sprinted toward the water, but stopped halfway when Emily ran to keep up with him. He held on to her hand as the two ran into the water, only to run out again as the waves splashed over their feet.

While the other two were occupied, Nicole chose to make her way back toward the blanket. She climbed onto her father's back and laid down on him. "Hi."

"Hey kid." Andy arched a brow at her. "What'cha doing?" With four of them, and another one on the way, they didn't usually get a lot of one-on-one parental attention. Leave it to his girl to pick her moments wisely.

"Restin'," she grinned at him.

"Comfortable?" Her arms were draped over his shoulders and her bony little knees were digging in to his back.

"Yep." With a lot of effort, and a few grunts from him, Nicole rolled onto her back and lay with her legs crossed at the ankles and her head resting against the back of his shoulder. "Dad."

"Yeah?" He was still grimacing from the elbow that had dug into his kidney. Beside him, Sharon had her face buried against Sam's neck, and from the way that her shoulders were shaking, she was laughing. Vicki wasn't bothering to be so subtle about it.

"Can we go throw Charlie in the waves?" She posed it so carefully, so casually, that it might have almost been an innocent inquiry.

He heard Sharon snort and Vicki snicker. "What about Emily?" He asked. His chin was propped in his hand while he waited for her response.

"Nah," she told him. "She's still little. Charlie's bigger and boys are gross, so he's fair game."

"I see." Andy toppled a giggling Nicole off his back and stood up. "Well then, come on. As long as you keep saying that boys are gross, I'll give you anything you want."

" _Andy!_ " Sharon shook her head at him. She watched him take his daughter's hand and walk with her to the water's edge, where he proceeded to dunk all of the kids at least once, and then get tackled into the waves himself.

"He's okay," Vicki decided, falling back into their previous conversation. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. I know Andy when he's trying to hide something. He isn't very good at it."

"No," Sharon agreed, "no he isn't." She managed a small, but relieved smile. "Thank you. I wasn't sure how you would react, but I didn't know who else to ask."

"I'm long done with fighting with him," Vicki told her. "I just want Charlie and Nicole to have their dad. Andy and I were no good for each other. We were too young and too much alike. It was a bad combination. You're good for him, and I have Pat now." She shrugged. "I think it all worked out the way that it was supposed to. I have the two kids and you've got…" Vicki arched a brow at her and smirked. "Well, we won't assign any numbers just yet."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Three. We are stopping at three, completely, totally, and officially. I am done." She stroked Sam's back again. "He had a vasectomy, so, we're sure that this is it."

"I take it back," Vicki decided. "I don't hate you at all." She shifted in her chair and got more comfortable. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "You got the man, the houseful of kids, and two weekends a month, I get the house all to myself. Life is good."

"Well, I am so glad that we could accommodate you," She drawled sarcastically. "Please let me know if there is anything else that we can do for you."

"Oh," Vicki waved a hand at her, "I'm sure that I will."

Much later, after they were all home and bathed, and the day had grown into night, Andy tucked the girls in while Sharon lay in bed studying. He leaned against their open bedroom door, arms crossed over his chest while he watched her. She was wearing one of his t-shirts. Her hair was piled high on her head and her cheeks still glowed from having been scrubbed free of any makeup. A smile tugged at his mouth as he pushed away from the door. Andy walked over and crawled on to the bed beside her. He stretched out on his side and propped his head in his hand.

There was a large, thick binder resting against her knees. Sharon was making notes and highlighting passages. He was more interested in the t-shirt. It was nothing special, just an old blue thing with an LAPD emblem on the front. It was bunched around her hips and stretched across her belly. They had a few months to go, but she was carrying this one differently. The baby was bigger. Sharon tired more easily. He was convinced it was a boy this time, but she wasn't taking any bets, not after two girls.

Andy laid his hand on her stomach. The baby was quiet now but he would be tumbling and kicking later, when Sharon was trying to sleep. "What are you reading?"

"Nothing that you want to know anything about," she replied, and afforded him an amused look before her gaze returned to the binder.

He grunted. Andy flipped up the side of the book and his lip curled. "LAPD Policy and Regulation." His eyes rolled. "Damned rat squad."

"Mmhm." Sharon arched a brow at him. She reached over and combed her fingers through his hair before turning a page. "The girls go down?"

"Oh yeah." He slid closer. He trailed a path of kisses up her arm. "They're both out. Em barely made it through her bath. Sam hasn't moved since you put her in the crib."

"That's good." She went back to her studying. It was a lot of legal jargon and procedural rules. She was thankful that her education, truncated though it had been, had given her the background to understand it all. What she didn't understand, Sharon made note to look up later. All of her law books and the small library that her father had given her were in boxes in the basement. While she continued to read, she could feel his eyes on her. The corners of her mouth twitched. Sharon slanted a look at her husband again. "Yes?"

"Nothing." His hand stroked the length of her bare calf. There were glasses perched on her nose. She didn't need them all the time, just when she studied. Her hair was a mess, the t-shirt was rumpled, and freckles stood out against her cheeks. "You're beautiful," he told her.

"You're blind." Sharon smiled down at him. She leaned down to meet his lips for a kiss. "I'm huge and I'm exhausted, but I adore you anyway."

Andy rolled his eyes at her. "You're the one with the vision problems, baby, not me." He rolled on to his back and got comfortable with an arm curled behind his head. She didn't see herself the way that he did. That was okay. He knew he wouldn't convince her otherwise, and he would show her, if he thought she really felt up to it. The added curves made her hot as hell. It was hard keeping his hands off her.

Sharon hummed. She continued to study for a little while longer, while her husband dozed beside her. Finally she closed the binder and placed it on the table beside the bed. She slanted a look toward him. He was stretched out on his back, ankles crossed, and the sweats he liked to sleep in riding low on his hips. A smile curved her lips as she slid toward him.

She nudged his legs apart with one of hers and draped her leg across his thigh as she lay down beside him. She kissed his neck as her hand slid down his stomach. It moved underneath the waistband of his sweats. Sharon felt him twitch against her palm when her fingers circled him. "Exactly how tired are you?" she mumbled, voice thick.

He thrust against her hand. "You sure you feel like it?" It had been a few weeks. With the kids, and their jobs, and everything else that they had going on, they didn't get a lot of time for just the two of them. Although, considering the fact that they'd managed to make three kids in five years, that would be a pretty hard sell for anyone who didn't know them, but who could blame him? His wife was hot as hell. When she felt like indulging him, he rarely said no.

"Mmhm." Her teeth scraped against her skin. Sharon moved over him. She straddled his legs. Her eyes were gleaming with intent as she met his gaze. She caught the edge of the t-shirt that she was wearing and pulled it over her head. Her brows lifted. She tilted her head at him. "Still beautiful?"

His eyes moved up her form. There were stretch marks from the previous two pregnancies, and new lines had formed as her body stretched to accommodate their next child. She was barely six months; with the girls she had not carried them so prominently at this point. His hands settled against her sides and moved slowly upward. Her breasts were swollen and heavy, the nipples dark, and already beginning to harden in the cool air of the room.

Andy sat up. He curled an arm around her and moved her onto the mattress as he pushed between her legs. He kept his weight on his arms as he bent over her. His eyes had gone dark. There was a fire in his belly, an ache in his groin. "You have no idea," he rumbled thickly. He caught her mouth in a searing kiss. He pushed at his sweats, and with her help, they shucked them down his legs and freed him to her questing hands. She couldn't know what she meant to him, how much he loved her, how badly he wanted her.

He resolved to show her. To keep showing her. Andy never imagined that he would love any one person the way that he loved Sharon. He burned for her when they were apart. It was more than sex, more than just desire. He wanted her beside him. He wanted the sound of her laugh ringing in his ear. He wanted the feel of her soft body resting against his chest as they sat, watching their children play.

He thought that his life was over when Vicki kicked him out. He didn't realize it was just starting. Andy just hoped that Sharon wouldn't wake up one day and realize that he had screwed her life up, that he had derailed all of her plans. She was it for him; this life that they had together was all that he wanted, and whatever he had to do, he would make her happy.

 **-TBC-**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

As days turned into weeks, Sharon decided that Vicki must be right. Despite all of its complications, life was good. Whatever Andy had felt after Sam was born, and after they learned she was pregnant again, he hadn't slipped up anymore. He was good. He was as solid as he had always been. Sharon felt guilty for worrying, and decided to push it all aside. He had done nothing to really make her doubt him, and as unhappy as he was with her new job, he was trying to be supportive.

Sharon had been on maternity leave for a week, her due date looming ever closer, when she got the call that turned their world upside down. It was a call that both of them dreaded every time that they left the house. Andy's partner told her that he had been shot at the crime scene for their latest case. Sharon left the girls with a neighbor until Vicki could pick them up, and rushed across town to the hospital.

The emergency room was crowded. It was filled with uniformed officers and detectives from Robbery-Homicide. Sharon pushed through the crowd as she moved in search of Andy's partner, David. She spotted him near a trauma room. He looked pale and concerned. There was blood on his white button down. His jacket and tie were gone. Her jaw clenched and her stomach twisted. "What happened?"

As David gazed at his partner's wife, he felt like kicking himself. He should have sent someone to pick her up. He just wasn't thinking. Everything happened too fast. They all knew that Sharon was out on leave, ready to pop, and the last thing that she needed was to be driving all over town with this hanging over her head. "God, Sharon." He ran a hand through his hair. "Shit. I didn't think." He waved a hand at her swollen middle. "Jesus. A couple of idiots in patrol didn't clear the scene. He took two before we could down the guy, one in the side, the other one in the shoulder."

"What do you mean," she asked, voice dropping an octave, "that patrol did not clear the scene? What were you doing there if the scene wasn't released to RHD?" Her flashed dangerously. Her fists clenched. She looked from David to one of the other detectives standing nearby. None of them liked that she was with IA now, but at the moment she wasn't there as a cop, she was a pissed off wife.

"They said it was clear," David told her. "It wasn't. Someone screwed up, okay?" He shook his head; there would be hell to pay for that, they all knew it. The cop and the rookie who had been responsible for clearing the scene had already been taken in for a briefing.

Her jaw clenched again. "Where is he?" She was trying to keep her emotions under control, but it was a losing battle. She had been imagining the worst since she had spoken to David earlier. Now, she just wanted to see her husband.

"Back there," David jerked his head in the direction of the trauma room that his partner had been taken into. "They're going to take him up to surgery soon. We were waiting on you."

Sharon didn't say anything else. She pushed around him and made her way down the short hall. She could hear Andy cursing before she reached his room. She decided that was a good thing. They had him on his side when she stepped in. They were trying to get a good idea of the damage. There was blood everywhere, coating his bare chest and staining his pants. "Andy." She drew his attention to her.

"Goddammit, Sharon!" He scowled darkly at the sight of her. "I told those idiots _not_ to call you." He hadn't wanted her to worry. She didn't need this right now. The baby was due in another couple of weeks. She was supposed to be resting.

"Then you're an idiot." She moved around the nurses to his other side. She took his hand in hers and leaned against the rail of his gurney. "Where else am I supposed to be right now, hm?"

He grimaced in pain. His body was on fire. He couldn't feel his other arm and his side hurt like hell. Andy squeezed her hand and tried to focus on her face. She was pale, terrified. He attempted a smile but failed at it. "Where are the girls?"

"Mrs. Addison has them," she told him. "Don't worry about Emily and Sam. Vicki is going to pick them up. She and Pat will keep them as long as we need. How are you?"

"Hurts like a bitch," he admitted. "How's my little guy?" It was a boy this time. The sonogram had been clear on that. Half of the nursery was all decked out in baseballs and airplanes; he would have to share with Sam, but the remodel was mostly done now. Charlie had a room downstairs and Em and Nic were sharing the other upstairs bedroom.

"He's practicing kicking field goals with my kidneys. Don't worry about him. Joey and I are both just fine." Sharon gave him a watery smile. The medical staff was getting him ready to be moved and motioning for her to hurry it up. "I love you," She whispered.

"Love you too, babe." They unlocked his gurney. He held tightly to her hand. "Ricky," he told her. "The first name you picked. You like it better."

They were wheeling him out. "But you like Joseph," she reminded him. They had been going back and forth on boys' names since they had found out that the baby was definitely _not_ a girl. They talked about naming him after her both of their fathers. Sharon didn't want to let go of his hand yet.

"Yeah, but Richard is better," he told her. "You finally got your boy, Shari. Call him Ricky."

She had to let go of his hand when they reached the door. She nodded as he was pushed away from her. "We'll do that." She pressed a kiss to her palm and waved at him, eyes glued to his until he was pushed out of view. Then Sharon covered her mouth and turned away. A sob was torn from her throat. This was the reality that they lived with every day, but somehow they managed to convince themselves it would never happen.

After Andy was taken up to surgery, Sharon was shown to a waiting room. The rest of his team waited with her. A few hours passed before she got her first update. The gunshot wound to his side was easy enough to repair. It hadn't damaged anything critical. His shoulder was the more serious injury. The rotator cuff and a few ligaments had been damaged. An orthopedic surgeon had been brought in to consult, and they were working on fixing it as best they could.

The rest of the day passed in a slow blur. The department was dealing with the incident on their end, and while Andy was still in surgery, Sharon checked on the girls. It was a few more hours before he was moved into recovery. His shoulder would have to be immobilized while it healed. The doctors estimated that it would take at least one more surgery, possibly two, to completely repair the damage that was done. He would be in physical therapy for a few months, but they thought he should get good range of motion back, time would really tell.

Andy spent a week in the hospital before he was finally released into her care. He was in a lot of pain. The medications he was given made him sleep more than he cared for. He tried to not take the pills. He didn't want Sharon struggling with him and two kids. When Ricky was born, Sharon's mother came to stay with them again. Despite all his worry, that delivery had gone much smoother than the last one. Sharon and the baby were home within a couple of days, and they were finding a routine that worked for all of them.

As helpful as Genevieve was when she was there, she couldn't stay forever. She spent two weeks helping them get situated. In the mornings, Emily went to preschool and Samantha went to daycare. Sharon would spend the morning completing whatever household chores she could, while Andy watched the baby. In the afternoons, she would take him to his physical therapy appointment. The evenings were chaotic. By the time dinner rolled around, Andy was in too much pain to move, and he couldn't sleep comfortably in their bed. The pain medication would put him out, and Sharon would juggle getting the girls bathed and into bed, and then there was Ricky to care for. He was a healthy and happy enough baby, but he wanted to nurse every two hours. Between feedings and diapers, Sharon did laundry and dishes, and paid bills.

Even the most mundane tasks, like grocery shopping, became a new adventure.

Sharon could hear the baby crying as she and the girls approached the house. She had taken the elder two with her for a quick run to the store. Ricky was sleeping, and he'd been fed and changed before she left. Andy told her to leave him behind. There was no reason for her to juggle all three kids and the shopping. They had anticipated that he would sleep while she was gone. Sharon hadn't intended to be away for more than an hour, but getting the two girls to the grocery store and maneuvering around had taken longer than she anticipated.

The girls rushed into the house ahead of her. The door banged against the wall behind them as they flung it open. They were chattering and laughing. Sharon juggled her purse and the few grocery bags that she had taken out of the car as she followed them.

"Andy?" She called out for him over the sound of the crying baby.

"Back here."

Sharon followed the sound of his voice. She dropped the grocery bags and her purse on the breakfast table. He was standing in the center of the kitchen, bouncing a very unhappy Ricky in the crook of one arm while he struggled to get the top on a bottle with his other. There was a deep frown between his brows. He had the baby in his good arm, and he was using the other to fix the bottle. Andy's sling was lying on the counter nearby, where he had discarded it.

"Hey." He winced as his fingers worked on twisting the nipple onto the bottle. His arm was throbbing like hell. It usually did after physical therapy, but having to use it now wasn't helping. "Someone thinks we're starving him to death." He swayed with the screaming infant.

"I'm sorry." Sharon walked over and took the bottle from him. "I thought we would be back by now." She tried to take the baby from him, but he handed her the bottle instead.

"Yeah, me too." Andy shrugged his good shoulder. "It happens. He's fine. Crying doesn't hurt him. I think someone has his mother's temper, though." He smirked at her.

"Do not blame this one on me, Flynn." Sharon twisted the nipple onto the bottle and tested the temperature before she passed it back to him. He had already warmed the milk. "That scream is all you." She winced when Ricky hit a particularly high note.

"Why are they always mine when they're crying?" Andy made a face at her as he carried the baby back to the living room with him.

"Because my children are darling little angels who would never make such a fuss," She teased. Sharon followed him. She checked in on the girls. They were already pulling toys out and occupying themselves. "Do you want me to take him?"

"Nah." Andy sat down in his recliner. He rested his injured arm on a pillow and offered the baby the bottle. "We're alright." He kicked back in his chair and put his feet up. "See? All set." Ricky was already sniffling around the nipple as he greedily sucked from the bottle. "It's not mom, but it works in a pinch, huh buddy? Believe me, I know the frustration. I like mom a lot better too."

" _Andy_!" Sharon rolled her eyes at him. She turned with a huff and went out to finish bringing the groceries in. It took two trips to bring it all in. While the girls played and the baby fed, Sharon worked on putting everything away. By the time she was finished, the living room had grown mostly quiet. Sharon poked her head in to check on everyone. The girls were occupied with a movie. Andy was asleep in his recliner.

Sharon walked over and laid a hand against Ricky's back. The baby was asleep again. The bottle was discarded and laying in the chair next to Andy's hip. Sharon picked it up and draped a light blanket over both of them. She sighed as she ran a hand over her husband's hair. There was still a line between his brows. Despite the pain medication he was still feeling that shoulder. She worried about him. He was pushing himself too hard.

Andy caught her hand as she turned away. He pulled it to his lips and kissed her fingers. His eyes blinked open sleepily. He gave her a lopsided grin before turning his head to the side and letting his eyes droop closed again. Sharon touched his foot as she rounded his chair and walked back to the kitchen. She leaned against the counter and stared into the backyard. She needed to start dinner. She was completely exhausted, however. Her eyes closed, for just a moment. They were trying to find a new routine, but it was hard.

Sharon's eyes snapped open again when the girls ran into the kitchen. She turned and plastered a smile on her face. "Shh," she warned them. "Daddy and Ricky are sleeping."

"Momma, I'm hungry." Emily leaned against her hip and looked up at her.

"Me too!" Sam mimicked her sister on Sharon's other side.

"Okay." Sharon laid a hand on both of their heads. "Let's do something about that. How about sandwiches?"

Emily's nose wrinkled. "We had that last night."

"You're right, we did." Sharon agreed with her. "Okay, no sandwiches. Let's make spaghetti." The girls would make an absolute mess of themselves, but they had eaten too many simple, cold meals lately.

She kept the girls in the kitchen with her while Andy and the baby napped. With their _assistance_ dinner took longer to make. Sharon was setting the table when she heard the baby begin to fuss again. "Emily, go help daddy." Sharon wiped her hands on a towel as she followed. "Sam, let's go wash up for dinner."

Sharon trailed in to the living room behind the girls. She smiled at Emily leaning her weight on the foot of the recliner to put it down. Andy met her gaze and winked at her. He smiled sleepily as he shifted the baby in his arms. Sharon took the baby from him. She would take him upstairs and nurse while the girls got cleaned up. That would give Andy a few minutes to shake the cobwebs out of his head. "Dinner is almost ready," she told him.

"Kay." He ran a hand over his face. He caught her arm before she could step away again. "C'mere." He tugged Sharon toward him.

She smiled. "The baby is hungry."

"So am I." He tugged on her again. Andy grinned when she leaned down. He pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Better?" She smiled against his mouth.

"Oh yeah." He wrapped his arm around her and pressed his face against her stomach. She hadn't lost all the baby weight yet, but she would. When she went back to work, he knew she would start using the gym again.

Sharon shifted the baby in her arms. She held in him the crook of her arm and ran her free hand through Andy's hair. Her fingers were gentle against the back of his head. She hummed quietly as he leaned against her. She missed this, the quiet moments, when he could just hold her. Those were fewer and farther between now. Their bed was cold and lonely without him. "How bad is it?"

"Low roar right now." He knew his shoulder was still aching, but the problem with the pain meds was that they just dulled his head without really getting rid of the pain. Andy pressed a kiss to her stomach before he let go of her. He leaned back in his chair. His head was fuzzy. Andy rubbed his eyes again. He really hated the vicodin. He tried not to take it during the day, but his shoulder was hurting too badly after the bottle debacle.

Sharon herded the girls out of the room. She stopped at the stairs to look back at him. Andy was half-dozing again. She drew a breath and let it out slowly. He was healing, but it was taking longer than they thought it would.

The doctors had warned that they had a long road ahead of them.

Andy was on medical leave for a few more months. When he was finally released to go back, he spent another couple of months on desk duty before he was finally cleared. His shoulder was still giving him trouble, though, even after the two surgeries to repair it. In the evenings, it really gave him hell.

It wasn't until she found a six-pack in their fridge that Sharon realized that her husband was using alcohol to take the edge off. She let it go, at first. He didn't want the vicodin they prescribed right after he was shot. It clouded his mind, he told her, made him sleep. He needed to be able to help her around the house. It was not until she began finding him passed out on the couch that Sharon started to crack down on the fact that he was drinking more than a beer in the evening to help him relax. When she found a bottle of vodka in their freezer, she poured it out.

That was when the fighting began. Vicki's warning rang in her mind. He would do it to spite her. Andy began coming in late, stumbling his way up the stairs. He tried to use sex to smooth it over. When that didn't work, he yelled at her. She was reminded of the stories she heard before they married. He was a mean drunk. He was surly and unhappy.

It was only getting worse.

The house was silent when Andy walked into it. Walking might have been an overstatement for what he was doing, though. There was a light on in the dining room. Andy winced as he pushed the door closed and leaned heavily against it. He flipped the deadbolt before he shuffled forward. He dropped his jacket over the newel post. When it fell onto the floor he grunted. He pulled his tie over his head and dropped it onto the floor with his jacket.

Andy rubbed a hand over his face before he walked toward the dining room. He found his wife there. She was standing at the table. There was a basket of laundry on a chair and several piles spread out on the table while she folded. She usually did this downstairs in the basement, but he figured she was waiting on him.

He walked over and leaned against her back. An arm moved around her waist. His lips found her neck while his hand splayed across her stomach. "You're hot when you fold," he drawled teasingly.

Sharon dropped the towel onto the stack of others that had already been folded and reached for another. She shrugged at him. She reached down and took his hand as it slid up her front. Sharon pushed him off of her. "You're drunk." She had expected that he would be. He should have been home a few hours ago. Stumbling in the door was becoming more commonplace.

"No," he drawled. His hands moved to her hips. He pulled her back against him. His eyes rolled at her tone. He should have known that Sharon would be upset with him. She was always upset with him about something these days. "Just a little tipsy," he told her. "I had a couple with the guys, that's all."

"Yes," she replied, "that's why you smell like a brewery. Tell me something, Andy, how did you get home?" She pushed him off of her again and walked around the table. She moved the towels into two stacks to keep them from toppling over and then she folded her arms across her chest. She glared at him. "Did you drive yourself or am I going to have to rush everyone out of the house an hour earlier tomorrow morning so that we can drop you off to pick up your car from whatever bar it's parked in front of?"

His dark eyes flashed. The good mood he had was beginning to fade. "What the hell is your problem? I had a couple of beers." There had also been some bourbon thrown into the mix, but she wasn't going to care about that. Andy waved her off and walked back toward the living room. "We'll figure out the car thing tomorrow."

"Yes, of course we will." She rolled her eyes heavenward and took a deep breath. Sharon shook her head. Her teeth ground together. She stood there for just a moment before she followed him. "Just like we figure out everything else, isn't that right? No, wait, you want me to figure it out. You'll stay out all night having a few with the guys, and I get to figure out how to shuffle everything around to accommodate you. Did you forget that you promised to help Sam work on practicing her letters after work? Or did you just not care? What about Emily? She waited all evening to show you what she made in school today, and I can't even remember the last time you were here to tuck Ricky into bed. Do those names even compute for you, Andy, or do you just not care anymore?"

"Who the hell do you think that I'm doing this for?" He glowered at her. Andy didn't like her insinuations that he was ignoring his kids. "We worked late. I wouldn't have been here anyway. We stopped and had a couple of drinks on the way home. God, Sharon. You act like I'm never here. I'm here, alright? Emily can show me at breakfast, and I'll help Sam this weekend."

"Right." She nodded slowly. Her lips rubbed together. "At breakfast. When you're so hungover that you can barely open your eyes and the sound of your own children playing puts you in a foul mood. Oh, I cannot wait for that."

"Goddamnit Sharon!" His buzz was almost completely gone. A headache was setting in. "What the hell do you want from me, huh? If I say that I'm going to spend time with the kids, you complain about it. If I don't, you complain. Would you pick one so that I know which thing you're going to be bitching about next?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Very well." She lowered her voice when his rose. "The fact that you're drinking again is what bothers me. You promised me that you wouldn't, Andy. You promised me, when we got married, that you wouldn't be the man that you were with Vicki. You told me that you would do better. Here we are, Andy. You're stumbling in drunk and now I'm the bad guy because I expect better of you."

"You expect a lot of things," he muttered. Andy turned away from her with a shake of his head. "I do my best to give it to you, and it's just not enough. So what if I have a couple of drinks. Something has to take the edge off."

Her jaw clenched. She nodded once. "Okay. Well, if you are so unhappy, Andy, maybe you should leave. If this," she gestured at the house and the toys that were stacked against one wall of the living room, "is not what you want, then you should go and find something that you do want. I am not going to let you destroy this family because you are so unhappy that you need to have a couple of drinks to be able to deal with us."

He turned slowly. Andy took one step forward and pointed a finger at her. Anger rolled off of him in waves. The muscles in his arms bunched. "You listen to me," he snarled, "this is my goddamned house, and those are my goddamned kids. I'm working my ass off to keep a roof over all of our heads. You think it's easy? Not with you traipsing around with the rat squad. I gotta do something to have a little fun, Sharon." His eyes swept down her form and his lip curled, "god knows I'm not getting anything else."

She snorted derisively. "Even if I were inclined to let you touch me, you're so drunk every night you can barely function."

He barked a low, mean laugh. "Believe me, baby, if I actually wanted you right now, I could make it happen."

Sharon moved toward the stairs. "You can sleep down here."

Andy dropped onto the sofa with a grunt. "Gladly," he shot back at her. As she moved up the stairs, he pulled at one of his shoes. He threw it angrily across the room. "Bitch." He sat there for a moment. He kicked off his other shoe before he got up. Andy made his way toward the kitchen. He dug around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled the bottle of bourbon out of the cabinet over the fridge and carried it back to the living room with him.

The liquid burned as it went down. He let it numb his bad mood.

Sharon found him passed out on the couch the next morning. The bottle was still open and mostly empty on the coffee table beside him. She got the kids ready for school and daycare and left him lying there. He could find his own ride back to his car if he was so inclined. She didn't want what she knew would be a nasty hangover around her kids.

It wasn't the last time they argued about his drinking. Sharon warned him, a few times, that he was headed to ruin. That only led to further arguments. They always ended the same way. Andy shouting at her, asking her what she wanted from him.

She wanted her husband back; the laughing, happy man that looked at her like she was his world, the man that rolled around in the grass with their girls, and sang goofy songs as he danced a crying Ricky around in the kitchen. Those days had been short lived. He hardly looked at the baby now.

It was late. Close to midnight when Sharon heard the key in the lock. At least tonight she knew that her husband would not be coming home drunk. She had already checked on his whereabouts. His division was working a case. She was waiting for him in the living room; a single lamp had cast the room in soft light.

Andy stumbled over a bag when he came in the door. "What the hell?" There were two bags packed and waiting by the staircase.

Sharon stood up and walked into the foyer. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body. "Andy."

"What's going on?" His eyes narrowed. The bags that were packed were his. "What the hell is this, Sharon? Where are the kids?"

There was pain in his eyes, and fear. She lifted her chin, tried not to let it affect her. "It's late, Andy. They're in bed." She paused for a moment. "They're with Vicki and Pat." His ex-wife had taken all three of them. She wouldn't let Charlie and Nicole stay over, not while Andy was drinking. He had a thing or two to say about that, but Sharon couldn't fault the other woman.

His back grew stiff. Andy straightened. He scowled darkly at her. "Oh, I see. You're taking her side, is that it? So you think that you can take my kids away from me too?"

"No, Andy." She smiled sadly at him. "That isn't what I am doing at all. I didn't want them here for this conversation." She took a step forward, but he moved away from her. Her heart clenched. "You aren't doing well, you know that. We can't keep going like this. I need you, Andy. We all need you." She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. "But if that's what it takes, then that's what I'll do. I will take the kids and leave. I won't watch you destroy yourself and I won't let you destroy them."

He ran a hand over his face and into his hair. He didn't think that she would really leave. That she had brought Vicki into it… Andy sighed. His stomach twisted. Yeah, he knew he was in trouble, but he didn't know how to stop now. He hadn't seen Charlie or Nic in a few weeks. He missed those kids like crazy. Vicki wouldn't let him anywhere near them. The thought of losing the others too… he felt frozen. He moved over and sat down on the stairs. Andy lowered his head into his hands. "I don't know how to fix it," he admitted.

"I know." She joined him there. Sharon sat beside him. "I don't want to leave, Andy, but I will." Tears filled her eyes. "I will take Emily, Samantha, and Ricky, and you will not see any of us again." It hurt her to do it, to threaten him like this. "Not unless you can get sober and stay that way."

He looked at the bags again, already packed. "What do you want me to do?" She was kicking him out. Vicki had done that too. It looked like she already had her mind made up.

"There's a facility in Arizona," she told him. "It specializes in law enforcement and public officials with addictions. It's a three-month, inpatient program. You can do the follow-up here, another two months of outpatient counseling." Her father had found it. Their insurance wouldn't cover it. Her parents had given her the money to pay for it. "I want you to go, Andy. I want you to get well. I want you to come home and be the man that I know you are." She cupped his face. "I love you," she told him. "I don't want to lose you. We'll be here, waiting, all of us. If you can do this, then Vicki has agreed to reinstate the custody arrangement. No one wants to take your kids away from you. They need their dad."

"Three months?" It was such a long time. Andy looked away from her. He couldn't imagine being away from her and the kids for that long. "Rehab?" He shook his head. "What about work?"

"You'll go on leave. No one but your immediate supervisor needs to know the reason for it. When you come back, your job will be waiting too." She combed her fingers through his hair. "Andy this isn't just for us. It's for you too. You're walking a line that's getting thinner every day. David has noticed you showing up with a hangover. It won't be long before someone else does too. You can go to rehab before it gets out of hand."

"If I'm going to rehab," he shot back, "then it's already gotten out of hand, don't you think?"

"Andy, please?"

He returned her gaze. He watched a single tear make its way down her cheek. Andy sighed. He reached over to wipe it away. "I don't even get to say goodbye?"

"It's easier for them this way, I think." Samantha was too young to really understand and Emily would cling to him. "I will go with you," she explained. "I'll take you tonight. We'll get you checked in, and I'll be here, waiting for you to come home to me."

His head bowed while he thought about it. At least she wasn't kicking him out, not really. He thought about the other option, not going to rehab. He would lose her, and the kids. It would be over. His job would probably follow. Andy sighed. "Promise?"

"God yes." She leaned over and pressed her forehead against his stubble-covered cheek. "I don't know how to be me without you," she told him. "Not anymore. I need you, Andy. The kids need you. Please come back to us," She whispered, pain making her voice hitch.

He wrapped his arms around her. How many times over the last few months had he yelled at her? Screamed at her? Blamed her for the bottle he couldn't do without anymore. Here she was, begging him to stop, taking care of all of them in the only way that she knew how. Andy knew where she probably got the money for some fancy rehab facility, and he knew what it probably cost her pride to ask. She had done that for him, for them. He pulled her up to straddle his lap and buried his hands in her hair. Her bottom lip was bruised. There were dark smudges underneath her red-rimmed eyes. Her freckles stood out in stark contrast to her pale face. "I'll go," he told her. "I'll do it." He pulled her down until their foreheads touched. "I can't lose you either." He couldn't breathe without her. He had almost lost her once, and it had driven him to the brink of madness.

She made a keening sound as her arms wrapped around him. Sharon held on tightly. They clung to one another. Outside, it began to rain. That didn't curb their plans. They loaded his bags into her car. Sharon had already filled out the paperwork for his leave. He only had to sign it. He did that before they left. She drove him to Arizona. It was several long hours of dark highway, but they went, before either of them could change their minds. The sun was coming up as he checked himself into the facility.

Sharon left him there, and ultimately, that was where she lost him.

 **-TBC-**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **1992**

It was after dinner. The sun was already down, but it wasn't too late. As Andy stepped into the house, he inclined his head and listened. He could still hear the television in the living room playing a cartoon. He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it over the newel post before he poked his head into the living room to check on them. The girls were seated on the floor, playing with their dolls while Ricky looked on from his playpen.

Andy loosened his tie and rolled the sleeves of his shirt up before he walked over and knelt down with them. He kissed his daughters and listened to their chatter for a moment. Then he lifted Ricky out of his playpen and settled him against his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen. His wife was there, drying dishes and putting them away.

"Hey babe." He dropped a kiss to her cheek before he moved out of her way to lean against the counter nearby. "I didn't think I was ever going to get out of there. Davis is on a tear."

"Hm." Sharon didn't say anything. She took another plate out of the drainer and dried it before placing it in the cabinet. It wasn't the first night that he had been late that week. He came in after dinner. "There's a plate for you in the oven if you haven't eaten yet," she told him.

"Yeah," he figured. She always saved him one. If he was too late, he would find it in the fridge. "I'll get it in a minute." He bounced Ricky in his arms, making the boy giggle. "Davis said something about some little pain in the ass Lieutenant from IA breathing down his neck about incomplete log reports. You wouldn't know about that, would you?"

Sharon slanted a look at him. He didn't like her job. She had to gauge his mood before she answered unless they wanted to spend the night arguing. He was smiling crookedly at her so she shrugged. Sharon hummed again. "It's possible that I may know about that," she drawled. "Are you saying that it's my fault that you are late?"

She had turned. Her arms were folded across her chest and a brow was raised. Andy smirked at her. "I might be, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to go all the way. The old man made us go through all our crap before we could leave. If it makes you feel any better, Provenza was still there when I left." The older cop liked to give him a hard time for being married to the rat squad and he wasn't always very cooperative with Sharon either.

Her lips pursed. Sharon thought about it for a moment. "That does, actually." She pushed away from the counter. She walked over and took his plate out of the oven for him. Her hand trailed down his arm when she moved by him. "Sit down and eat, Andy."

He looked at Ricky. "Mom says I hafta eat my dinner before we can play." He carried the baby with him to the table. When Sharon tried to take him, he shook his head. "Nah, we're good." He sat Ricky on his lap and uncovered the plate with his other hand. "Oh…" He leaned over and inhaled. "Damn that Davis anyway." She made a pot roast.

"Language." Sharon warned with a small smile. "I'm going to get the girls bathed and in to bed. Are you sure you're okay with him?"

Their son was happily chomping a green bean. Andy nodded and waved her off. "Sharon, we're fine."

She paused at the door before she went. She just watched them for a moment. They were talking about the game that Andy listened to on the radio on his way home that evening. The baby didn't have the first clue what he was talking about but he was hanging on every word. Sharon drew a quiet breath and turned away. Andy was trying very hard to make up for lost time with him. He had missed so much, first because he was injured, and then because he was drinking. Then there were the months that he was in rehab. He had missed first words and steps, moments that he could never get back.

After she finished getting the girls down for the night she came back downstairs for Ricky. Andy gave him up with a reluctant sigh. Left downstairs alone, he finished cleaning the kitchen and moved on to the living room. Andy picked up the toys that were strewn around on the floor. When he finished, he settled on the sofa and flipped through channels until he found a movie playing that seemed decent enough. He glanced toward the stairs a few times. Part of him expected his wife to come back down, but he wasn't surprised when she didn't.

Andy sighed. He had been home for a little while now, but things between them were still very strained. In the three months that he was at rehab, she only visited him once. With three kids and a full time job, it was hard for her to get away. He understood that. It didn't make him miss her any less, though. There was even a part of him that was afraid, when he stepped off that plane at the airport after making the short flight home, that she wouldn't be there. She was. Sharon was waiting for him at the arrival gate with all five kids. She had convinced Vicki to let her have Charlie and Nicole for his return, and they, with Emily, had almost knocked him over in their excitement.

That was a good weekend. It made him think that everything was going to go back to the way it was before; before he was shot and fell into the bottle again. Life didn't work that way, however. Andy still had months of outpatient counseling ahead of him. Then he had to go back to work. Sharon was different. She had gotten into a routine with the kids without him, and he had to find his place in it.

She was wary of him, though. She trusted him with the kids, but Sharon was wary of him. He guessed that shouldn't surprise him. The things that he said to her, when he was angry and drunk, the way that he shouted and the names that he called her, Andy would be wary too.

He would never make that up to her.

Andy fell asleep on the sofa. He woke up before the sun started peeking over the mountains to the east. Falling asleep on the couch or in his recliner had become a habit. It was better than the silence that would greet him if he went upstairs. He walked barefoot into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. The kids would be up soon, he knew, so he took out eggs and bacon and laid them on the counter near the stove. He stepped out onto the back deck with his coffee, though, and took a seat on the wooden steps.

There was still a chill in the air. Andy sat there with his coffee while he watched the sky turn gray, and then purple as the sun slowly rose. He started smoking in rehab, it was something to help curb the cravings for a drink. Sharon hadn't liked it though, so he stopped after coming home again. He still had a pack of cigarettes tucked away in the kitchen, and if she had found them, she never said. Andy lit one and let the smoke fill his lungs. He heard the door open behind him and flicked his ashes toward the grass.

"I thought you quit." Sharon stepped out onto the deck. The wood was cold beneath her bare feet. She cradled a cup of coffee in her hands and joined him on the step.

"Yeah." His elbows were resting against his knees. "I did; for the most part. It helps when I want something else." Andy slanted a look toward her. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts. Her hair was curling wildly. She must have gone to bed with it still damp from her shower, he realized. As his eyes moved over her form, his brow rose. "Hey, are those…"

Sharon looked down at her cut-offs and smiled. "Mmhm." She flashed a satisfied smile. "Pre-Emily shorts. They're still a little snug, but… After three kids, I'm calling it a win." She was happy to be in them again.

"Looks good." Andy looked away again. He leaned down and stubbed his cigarette out on the ground before giving the butt a flick toward the yard. His brows knit together in a frown. He noticed she was dieting. She had all but given up bread, ran most mornings, and spent an hour in the gym at work. "You're not doing that because of anything I said, right?"

It was asked quietly. He didn't look at her. Sharon studied his profile. He said some pretty hateful things during some of their fights, but Sharon had chalked that up to the alcohol. "No," she told him quietly. "I told you when we had Sam that I was going to get into these shorts again, even if it took another ten years to do it. I meant it."

He nodded slowly. Andy took a drink of his coffee. "You look good," he told her. "You looked good before too." He never minded the extra curves. It always took her a little while to lose most of the baby weight.

"Is that why you didn't come to bed last night?" Sharon stared into her cup. He didn't, most nights. She usually found him sleeping on the sofa, or he came into their room as she was waking up to climb into the shower.

"I was watching a movie," he told her. "I fell asleep." Andy drained his cup and sat it on the step beside him.

When he didn't look at her, she sighed. "The kids will be up soon." Sharon stood up and walked back into the house.

Andy hung his head. There was a note of sadness in her tone. He sat there for a moment longer before he followed her. The sky was turning pink now, but he no longer saw any beauty in it. Sharon was at the counter, and seemed to be leaning against it. She moved when he came in to the kitchen, busied herself with pouring another cup of coffee. He placed his cup on the counter and let his hands rest against her waist. He pressed his lips to her shoulder. "I don't want to hurt you again," he said quietly.

"You're not here," she replied, "not really." Physically he was with her, but he was still missing. The man was home, but she had on idea where her husband had gone. "Not having you hurts."

"I just need a little more time," he said. Andy didn't know what that really meant, but it was all he had to offer her. "I'm not going anywhere, Sharon. I'm not going to leave you."

His arms had wrapped around her. Sharon clasped one of his hands as it rested against her midsection. "I think you already did," she whispered. They were living together, co-existing, but it didn't really feel like they were _together._

Andy turned his face into her neck. "Never." His arms held her more tightly. "You'll have to get rid of me, because I don't know how to leave you."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Sharon turned in his arms. Her fingers were gentle against the familiar curve of his jaw. "It's not just the kids that need you, Andy. I need you too."

"You have me," he promised. He pressed a kiss to her brow and pulled her into his arms again. All too soon he could hear the stirrings of their kids. They heard the gate at the top of the stairs rattle just a second before they heard Emily call out for them.

"So it begins." Sharon pulled back from him with a sigh.

"I'll get them." They were outnumbered, but between the two of them they would be able to wrangle the brood. He cupped her face. "Okay?"

"Hm." She felt only marginally better, but she supposed that he was right. It was going to take more time for them to find stable footing again. "Go on, they'll start to riot soon." Her hand slid down his chest as he moved away. It wasn't until she was alone in the kitchen again that her smile faltered.

Before the shooting there was no question in her mind that they would make it. She could see them, in another thirty years, maybe traveling, enjoying their retirement and watching their grandchildren grow. Now, she wasn't so sure. That future had grown a little hazy. It felt like it was sliding out of her grasp and the harder she tried to hold on to it, the further away it got.

 **-TBC-**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 _ **2017**_

The room was silent now. The passionate cries and long sighs that had filled it before were just an echo of a memory. Andy lay on his side, watching her. She was on her stomach. The light from the lamp on the far side of the room was casting shadows across the bed. His fingers trailed gently up her bare back. There was a sheet wrapped around her hips. One of her legs was bent toward him. Her arms were curled around the pillow beneath her head. His lips touched the back of her shoulder before he moved away.

He lay on his back, eyes on the ceiling. Sharon lifted her head. Her fingers trailed across his bicep, traced the thin, faded line that seemed to wrap around his shoulder. It was the first crack in the armor that had once been their marriage. It finally shattered a few years after he was injured. He did well enough with rehab, but things were never quite the same between them. The spark was there. They had always been very good in bed, but they had lost something.

When Andy came home again, they regarded each other differently. They tried to piece their lives back together, and for the most part; it looked as if they had succeeded. It was only a façade, though. He was always a little wary of her, and while she was never going to admit that she stopped trusting him, part of her did wonder on those evenings that he worked late, whether he was really working or in a bar somewhere.

They didn't fight anymore, and maybe that was the problem. Even before the drinking started, they would fight passionately and make up just as fiercely. After rehab, it was as though they were both afraid of pushing the other too far. Their discussions might grow stilted, but eventually one of them would give in, fearing the consequences of not.

Sharon rolled away from him. She sat up on the edge of the bed and pulled the sheet around her body. She drew her feet up to rest against the frame and folded her arms around herself. She stared at the window and the rain that was still falling. "You stopped loving me," she said quietly.

"No." He moved behind her. Andy pulled her against his chest, into the cradle of his legs and wrapped his arms around her. "God no." That was never the problem. Whatever else was between them, loving her was never an issue. "There's never been anyone else, Sharon." He slept around after they separated, dated a few women, mostly younger, but never anyone that he intended to have a relationship with. Part of him was always waiting for her to forgive him.

Her jaw clenched. She leaned her head against his shoulder. Her hands covered his. She had left him. He fell off the wagon again a few years later. Ricky had barely been in school when Sharon met her husband at their door again. This time she didn't sent him to rehab. She sent him away. She packed his bags, she changed the locks, and she asked him to leave. He tried to get clean again on his own, and after almost a year, he did it. He had been sober ever since.

They never told Vicki why they separated, not the real reason. It was never Sharon's intention to take the kids away from him. Charlie and Nicole needed their father as much as her three did. They had Pat in their lives, and as good as he was to them, as close as they were to him, there was a void that he couldn't fill. Her kids didn't have that. During that long year that it took for Andy to get his act together, they had missed him. _She_ had missed him. She had almost stumbled a few times. She had almost taken him back.

It was her father's idea to file the legal separation and a custody agreement, just to protect them both. Andy didn't fight her on it. He paid the child support and he had the kids on alternating weekends and holidays. She allowed him to see them whenever he wanted. He was at every recital, every game. When Samantha had broken her leg at school, Andy picked her up while Sharon was at work. When it was his turn to have Charlie and Nicole for the holidays, Sharon hosted them at the house. His apartment was much too small for all five kids.

The separation was never intended to be permanent, but over the years, staying apart became easier than fixing what they had broken. They were always drawn to one another, however. Andy would find his way into her bed, or she into his, more times than she wanted to admit.

Her job was another factor.

Sharon had moved up quickly after joining Internal Affairs. When the Force Investigation Division was created, she was chosen as its head. It put them at odds professionally, and that had leaked over into their private life. Even when it seemed as though they might reconcile, Andy's file would cross her desk and they were pitted against one another again. He blamed her. She couldn't investigate him herself, and the inquiries that she handed off to her team were always routine. They always cleared him, but he blamed her for it. He saw it as a betrayal.

Then the rumors began. Andy was earning a bit of a reputation as a womanizer. He and his new partner liked to date younger women. It hurt. Sharon had hoped that he could be discreet. They had argued about it, an argument that had ended up with them in bed and nothing resolved. That was when Sharon had taken off her ring.

A few years later she put more than a few city blocks between them. A promotion had come in the form of a job offer from the Chicago Police Department. They were looking for someone with her skillset to takeover their Internal Affairs Department. After much debate, and several long conversations with her parents, she took it. In hindsight, she supposed that she was running from him.

She had packed up all three kids and moved halfway across the country with them. By that point, the girls were teenagers. The custody arrangement had to be amended. Andy still had them every other holiday, and she let him have them for most of the summer. He visited as often as he could in between. He didn't touch her again until Emily's high school graduation. He spent a week in Chicago. Sharon spent the night in his hotel room before he flew home. She wanted to ask him to stay. Years and miles had put a few things into perspective. She missed him. She missed _them_. She wanted to put the pieces of their life back together and try again, in a new city, away from everything that had pulled them apart.

He was gone when she woke up.

When Andy's mother died, she had gone to him. She joined him in New Jersey and stayed with him until after the service and burial. He had lost his father before they separated. She had worried about him during those sad days, but he had weathered it. He grieved. He stayed sober.

They put the kids through college. Good schools, and they had excelled. Emily had gone to Northwestern, and was in New York now, dancing professionally and chasing her dreams. The other two were back in California. Samantha had gone to UCLA and chose to remain in Los Angeles near her father, and Ricky was still in San Francisco after finishing at Stanford.

That was five years ago. Their son's graduation was the first time they had seen each other in a while. That time it was Sharon that snuck out of a quiet hotel room in the wee hours of the morning. She hadn't seen or spoken to him since. Now that the children were grown, it was easier to stay away, at least that was what she told herself. Out of sight, but never out of mind. She tried to move on.

"He wasn't you," she whispered brokenly. Bradford. She wanted him to be, but he wasn't. That relationship was short lived. He was a nice man, and he had pursued her. She tried to return his feelings, but just couldn't. Her heart just wasn't hers to give.

"He asked you to move in with him." Emily had told him that much. Samantha confirmed it when he asked her. Andy pressed his face into her neck. His arms tightened around her. "It sounds pretty serious."

"It wasn't." Sharon closed her eyes. She leaned her head against his. "I told him no. We ended it. I just didn't… I don't love him, Andy."

"You could." His nose nuzzled her soft skin. His lips moved against her ear. He had known pain in his life; true physical pain. He had been shot, stabbed and beaten over the years. Then there was the heart attack. Some would say that was the worst pain any one human could ever feel. Andy knew otherwise. Losing her, watching her walk away from him, that hurt far more. He could feel his chest tightening again now.

There was a physical ache inside of him that was like nothing else. The taste of her was on his lips. The smell of her was on his skin. He closed his eyes and inhaled. It was a heady mixture of them. It always had been. He drew a breath and felt it rattle in his lungs. "You could love again," he told her, voice thick. "You could be happy. He'd be lucky." Andy knew what it felt like to be loved by her. She loved with everything that she had. It was warmth and light, and when it was gone, there was only cold emptiness.

"I can't." Her hands moved along his arms. Sharon pressed her forehead against his cheek. There was something infinitely precious about being held by him. She couldn't name it. It just made her feel complete in a way that nothing else ever could. "Andy, it doesn't matter. The papers really don't mean anything." She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Bradford wanted me to marry him. That was his ultimate goal. He wanted me and I didn't have anything to give him."

His hand lifted to her face. His fingers gently traced the curve of her cheek. Andy's thumb brushed her bottom lip. "Because you really don't love him," he asked, "or because we're still married? Sharon, if that's what you want—"

"Andy…" Her eyes closed. She exhaled quietly. "It isn't just the divorce. I am not going to petition the Church for an annulment. I can't ask for something that I don't believe that I need. I won't wipe away our marriage. It meant something to me. It _still_ means something." What, she didn't exactly know.

"Come home," he told her. His lips moved against her neck. He still had the house. He bought it from her when she moved to Chicago. He couldn't bear to part with it, even now. It was where they had been happy. Living in it reminded him of all the reasons he had to stay sober, of everything that he lost because he couldn't.

"Andy…" Sharon moved away from him. She stood up and turned. "I can't do that." Her stomach clenched tightly. "I have a job, friends, my parents are in Chicago. I can't just pack up and move away from everything."

"Why the hell not?" The question was snapped at her. Andy stood up and found his pants. He pulled them on with quick, jerky movements. "You did it before."

"That was different. I—"

"How the hell was it different?" He swung his arm in the direction of the door as he spoke. "You took my kids and you left the state with them. You upended everyone's lives for a job. Why can't you do that for our marriage?"

"What marriage?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "We haven't had a real marriage in more than twenty years. The only reason that I'm here now is because you sent me divorce papers."

"I was trying to let you have the life that you seem to want," he shouted back at her. "One that doesn't include me!" Andy jerked his shirt on and glared at her. "I have given you everything that I have, and it's still not enough, is it Sharon?" He held his arms up. "I'm here, I'm right here, and all I'm asking you to do is come home."

She shook her head. "I can't." Tears clouded her vision. "I wish that I could, but we can't go back, Andy." Her voice hitched, grew breathy. "My life isn't here anymore." Her heart was breaking all over again. She wanted him and the life they might have had, but moving backward terrified her. They had missed raising their children together, but there were still grandchildren to be had. That seemed out of their reach too. She wondered if they were ever meant to be at all, or if this was all they would ever have.

"No, no I guess it isn't." His shoulders slumped. He picked up his shoes and his jacket. "I guess there's nothing here that you want. I wonder if there ever was." Andy left her alone in the hotel room. He stopped just outside the door, head bowed. She told him she couldn't end it, but what did they have? It had ended a long time ago.

It was time they both admitted it.

Sharon flew back to Chicago the next afternoon. The rain stopped only long enough for her delayed flight to finally leave the airport. She was only back home for a week when the divorce papers arrived again. This time they came via a process server, certified and signed. Andy had retained a lawyer. All Sharon need do was look them over with her own attorney and sign the papers if she agreed. They would be filed, and the marriage that had ended twenty years ago would be legally dissolved.

She held on to the papers for a few days, but made an appointment with an attorney. She may not be willing to ask for an annulment, but if Andy wanted to be free of her, she would allow him to be. Maybe then the healing could begin.

Sharon was beginning to believe that they had already had their moment in the sun. They had burned too brightly and too fast. The passion they had for one another had ignited into something else, something that she guessed was too strong to be sustained.

A letter arrived before she could meet with her attorney and file the papers. She ignored it for two days. The slanting, messy script was too familiar and Sharon didn't know what else there was that they could say to one another.

 _Sharon,_

 _I know we said that we'd keep our property, and the damned attorney tells me that I'll have to sell the house. Legally it was both of ours. We took care of the financial stuff when you moved privately. There's no record of it, so it goes into the divorce. I'm hoping that you won't ask me to do that._

 _I bought you this house to try and make up for everything that I took from you. You didn't want it. I do._

 _This place is where we brought our kids when they were born. It's where we were a family, even if it didn't last that long._

 _It's where I tried to love you enough to make up for screwing up your life._

 _I'm sorry for that._

 _You had a lot of dreams and I took them all. I broke up more than both my marriages. I can do the math, you know. You got pregnant with Emily that first night. I should never have come over. I should never have touched you._

 _You were off-limits, way too good for me. Even wasted, I knew that. The problem is, I can't regret it. I'm sorry that we started like that, but that first year was really great, so were the next few._

 _This place was where you loved me, more than I ever deserved. It's where I hoped you would never realize that I was just a bastard, but you were always way smarter than me._

 _The marks in the floor in the dining room, where the kids used to scrape their chairs against the wood are still there. I know I promised that I would fix it, but it reminds me that those days weren't a drunken hallucination._

 _The lines on the inside of the basement door, where you used to measure how tall the kids were getting, those are still there too. The tile in the downstairs bathroom, where Charlie dropped his skateboard and chipped it, that never got replaced either. There's a tree growing where we buried the girls' cat after it died. I know you loved that damned cat, even if you hated me for bringing it home._

 _You left your favorite coffee mug when you moved. I never had the heart to send it to you, and you never asked for it. It's still in the cabinet. Every morning I look at it, and I know what I screwed up._

 _Yeah, I slept around after we split up. I was trying to forget you, but that's never going to happen. I never brought any of them here. This is your house. You're all over it. You're in every room._

 _I'll sell it, if that's really how we have to end things. I'd rather not. I'd like to hold on to it. You took everything when you left, everything that meant anything to me. It's what I've got, now._

 _I'd like to give it to the kids someday. I know they don't have a whole lot of memories here, but I hope that the ones they have are filled with more good than bad._

 _I tried to be there for them. It was hard, being so far away. I wanted to follow you a thousand times. It just felt like, if I did that, I was choosing. If I went with you, I was leaving Charlie and Nicole. Staying here, it was like I was letting them go. I couldn't make a choice, so I didn't._

 _I think we did okay. I think that you did okay. They're good kids. You never let them think that I wasn't good enough. I was always grateful for that, even if you and I knew the truth._

 _I know that you're better off without me. That's pretty obvious. I hope ending it finally, completely, will give you something that I never could. I hope you're happy._

 _Sharon, I hope that you find someone that makes you happy. Even if that means standing up and saying that our marriage never should've happened. If someday you meet that guy, and that's what you want, then I won't fight you on it._

 _I love you. I always loved you._

 _Andy_

The letter was crumpled in her hand. Sharon was seated on the floor beside her bed. Her cheeks was still damp with the tears that fallen while she read his words. Andy always liked to say that he wasn't very good with words, but somehow he always managed to say exactly what he meant; even when she didn't want to hear it.

Sharon wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. She sniffled quietly and placed the letter on the floor beside her. The ache that she had been carrying for the past few weeks had grown. It made it difficult to breathe.

He was letting her go.

They had lived apart for so long, coming and going in each other's lives that she never really stopped to think about what it meant to truly live without him. Sharon tipped her head back against the side of the mattress and drew a shuddering breath. Even with so many miles between them, there was always Andy in the back of her mind. Men flirted with her. There were even a few that she was attracted to, but there was always Andy in her heart.

She thought of Bradford, the man with whom she had shared her body. There was physical release and companionship to chase away the loneliness. When he asked her for more, she balked at it. He was good to her. He was kind, even funny. He treated her well. Physically they were compatible enough. He just didn't make her _feel_ anything.

That was the point.

Sharon didn't want to feel anything. She felt more than enough when she thought of her husband.

 _Husband_.

Sharon crawled across the carpet to the bureau in the corner. She sat on her knees there and opened one of the bottom most drawers. Beneath a couple of sweaters, in the back, there was an old, faded t-shirt. Sharon pulled it out of the drawer and sat back with it. She held it against her chest. Her head dipped and she pressed her face against the soft cotton. It smelled of fabric softener and her own perfume, but if she thought hard enough, she could imagine that it still smelled of his aftershave.

At some point after they married Sharon began wearing that t-shirt more than Andy did. It became hers, although it bore the LAPD insignia and the year of his academy graduation. Sharon chewed on her bottom lip as she drew it to her lap. Wrapped inside of it was an old photo album. With the t-shirt draped across her lap she drew the album out and scooted back to lean against the wall.

Most of the pictures that she had of the kids were on prominent display throughout the house. There were even a few that had Andy in them. It was important to the children that they have those memories where they could see them. Others, however, were tucked away. Sharon's fingers trembled as she opened the book. The pages wanted to stick and creak. She held her breath as one of the photos slid out of the book and into her hand.

It was the two of them. They were standing together in the garden behind her parent's home. It was Emily's high school graduation. Andy thought he was going to miss it. A case and then bad weather had caused him to miss his flight. He couldn't get another. The best that he could do was a flight to Indianapolis. He had driven the almost three and a half hours from there to Chicago and arrived just as the graduation ceremony was beginning. Sharon remembered how frustrated and worried he was, and the relief in his eyes when he realized that he made it just in time.

Her parents had hosted a reception afterward. That was when the picture was taken. They were looking at one another, smiling widely. Her hand was resting against his chest, where she had been playing with his tie. In that moment, nothing else in the world had mattered. It all just fell away. There was only him and her, and their shared pride at the accomplishments of their first child.

He looked so healthy. So content with who he was. There was a sense of peace around him. Sharon was drawn to it. She basked in it, and the way that he looked at her. She remembered holding his hand. Her thumb had stroked the smooth metal of his wedding band. Andy had only looked at her and smiled.

She went to him that night, with her heart full and her soul yearning. He was gone the next day, however. It was months before they spoke again.

Sharon closed the book with a sigh. She held it to her chest again. She wanted him to stay. She would have asked him that next morning. She wondered if he had known? She thought back over the words in his letter. He couldn't choose. He couldn't pick a life with her in Chicago over the children that he already saw very little of.

He always felt like he had failed them. Even when they were happy together, Sharon knew that he carried the weight of guilt and regret for all the moments that he missed when Charlie and Nicole were with their mother. He tried to make up for it, to be the father that they needed in every other way.

He was in an impossible situation and it was one that _she_ had created.

He said that he wanted her to find someone that would make her happy. She already had. They couldn't go backward. They couldn't get back all of the time that they lost, years of lonely nights and missed memories.

Was it really too late? Even if the past could not be undone… what about the future?

 _Come home_.

His voice was still in her head. She had been hearing his quiet plea since she left Los Angeles. Sharon looked around the bedroom of her Chicago townhouse. All those years they spent trying to make sure that they had room enough for all the kids, and her townhouse had always felt entirely too large.

Sharon tipped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. They tried to teach their kids that home was not a place, it was a feeling. This never felt like home. She was missing something.

She just didn't know how to get it back. What would Andy even say if she tried? Were they finally too broken for any of it to even matter?

Sharon didn't know, but suddenly, she had to find out.

Writing the letter was more cathartic than he thought it would be. Andy went back and forth on actually sending it and finally put it in the mail before he could change his mind. It helped him feel more at peace with the divorce. He had never taken his ring off, he was thinking about that now. He was waiting to hear from Sharon and her lawyer. Once a final decision was made about how they would split everything, when the papers were filed, he'd take it off and put it away.

Maybe he would finally move on with his life too. The girls were always after him to date more seriously than he had in the past. Sam and Nicole liked to gang up on him. Maybe it was time that he did.

Andy thought about that as he pulled his car into the driveway at home. It had been another long week, but at least it had finally stopped raining. He frowned at the unfamiliar car that was parked in front of his garage. As he got out of the car, he rested a hand on his gun. Andy walked cautiously toward the house. Charlie had mentioned driving down for a visit, but he thought his son was still driving that old jeep of his. Ricky might have flown in for a visit if his mother had told him about the divorce. That was just like him. He was a fixer. So was Emily, but she would prod her brother and get him to do it for her. Sam was more direct, more like him. She would just tell him to get his head out of his ass.

He wasn't really prepared to find Sharon waiting for him in the living room. She was seated on the couch, a book in her hands. She put it aside and stood when he entered. He frowned at her. She was dressed in jeans and a soft, lavender sweater. "What are you doing here?" He thought that they had both said all that they needed to.

She offered him a delicate half shrug and clasped her hands together in front of her. "I got your letter." She looked down and rubbed her lips together. "I don't want you to sell the house." Her jaw clenched. Her throat ached. When she looked up at him again, her eyes were damp. "I'm selling my townhouse instead."

Andy's frown deepened. He shook his head. "The townhouse was yours. You got it after we separated." None of the property they accumulated after their legal separation would be factored into the divorce. "Sharon, you don't have to do that. I'm not asking you for anything."

"Yes," she whispered, "I do." She took a step toward him. Her hand lifted and she laid trembling fingers against his cheek. "I can't live in two places at once."

His chest tightened. His stomach clenched. Andy continued to stare at her. His mind was slowly putting her words together but he wasn't sure that he believed it. "What are you saying, Sharon?"

"That unless you really want to file those papers, this is my house, and I should live in it." Her thumb stroked the curve of his cheek. She drew a slow, shuddering breath. "Andy, you didn't ruin anything. I did not lose my dreams because of you. I found new ones. My life changed. I never regretted that. You were always good enough for me…." A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek. "You still are," she added in a whisper. Her lips trembled and she pressed them together. "It was me. I was so afraid that I was losing you, that I pulled away thinking that it would hurt less. When you were able to get sober again, and stay that way without me… I thought maybe you were better without us. Then you started dating again…" She stopped and shook her head. "I didn't want to be like Vicki. I didn't want to watch you move on and build a new life with someone else. Chicago was just a convenient place to hide."

He threaded a hand through her hair and gripped the back of her head. Andy drew her close, until their foreheads rested together. "Don't," he said roughly. "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself." His lips ghosted her cheek as her arms wrapped around him. "I know what I did. I know what I broke."

"No, Andy," her eyes were closed. Her forehead rubbed against his jaw as they moved together, swaying from side to side. "We both just got a little lost for a while." Her hands gripped the back of his jacket. There was a physical ache inside her, one that had been there for so long that she had gotten used to it. "Ask me again."

"What about your job?" He asked instead. She was held tightly in the circle of his arms. He wasn't letting her go again, he didn't think he had the strength to even try.

"I gave notice." She lifted her head and looked up at him. "There's a job here for me. The LAPD would very much like to have me back." Her brows lifted. " _Andy_."

"Come home, Sharon." When she only nodded, he lowered his head and let his lips brush hers. There were tears. Hers, he thought, but they might have been his. There was a weight that was lifted off of him. His lips touched her cheek next, and then her hairline. He held on to her, just as tightly as he could, just as she was clinging to him, and prayed that it wasn't a dream.

 **-TBC-**


	13. Chapter 13

**Ripple Effect**

 **By Kadi**

 **Rated M**

 **Disclaimer:** I play in the sandbox, I don't own it.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

A summons to appear was never to be ignored. That was something that Emily, Sam and Ricky had learned from their grandfather. The three siblings had been expecting it since their mother had informed them that she was accepting a job transfer back to Los Angeles. The townhouse was packed up and sold. Any belongings they had there were shipped to them. That was two months ago. All they really knew was that their mother had a new job and had moved back into the old house.

Samantha thought she knew a little more about the situation than the others. That came from proximity. She worked long hours, though, and their mother didn't talk much about her personal life. She tried prying the information out of her dad, but he wasn't saying anything either. She just thought it was odd that their dad hadn't mentioned a new address.

Emily and Ricky had both flown in that morning. Their mother wanted them staying at the house. Sam was getting out of that particular request because she had her own place in town. Sam had driven over to meet everyone for lunch. Ricky hadn't done more than toss his bags into the downstairs bedroom before stepping into the backyard. The both of them were seated on patio chairs, enjoying the sun.

They looked up when Emily stepped out onto the deck. She dropped her shades onto her face with a sigh. Her nose wrinkled. "God, I hate LA." She stepped off the deck and strolled toward them. "Okay, we're here." She pinned her sister with a look. "What is going on with them?"

"How should I know?" Sam had found a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. She brought it and several glasses outside with her. Sam reached over and poured herself one of them. "Just because I live here doesn't mean they tell me anything. I know about as much as the two of you. Your mother moved in and kicked dad out again."

Emily rolled her eyes at her sister. "Why is it, when they are fighting, that she is _my_ mother? I thought we were all more than aware of the fact that she is _our_ mother. She did give birth to all three of us." She paused for a moment and slanted a look at their brother. "Well, he was hatched, but…"

Ricky made a face at his sister. He took a lemon slice off the tray that Sam brought outside and threw it at her. "You're not as cute as you think you are." He slumped in his chair and stretched his long legs in front of him. He preferred Palo Alto, but the sun felt good on his skin.

"Whatever it is," Sam nodded toward the back door. "We're about to find out. Show time, kiddies."

The double doors opened and their mother stepped onto the deck. She was laughing. What surprised them was that their father was with her. They supposed it wasn't really _that_ surprising, the two of them could be civil, even friendly, when they were together. They just didn't often choose to be together.

It was a mild day, warm but not too hot. There was a breeze to keep it from being uncomfortable, even in the sun. The light blue sundress that Sharon was wearing danced around her legs as she walked along the stone path to the patio. There was a bricked in fire pit at the center of it. Chairs were arranged in a semi-circle on one side. A table and matching chairs was on the other side. Andy kept the grill on the deck, where it was out of the rain. They wouldn't be using it today. Originally they planned to make lunch for the kids, but Andy had not come in until almost dawn. Major Crimes had caught a case earlier in the week, and they spent the evening wrapping it up. Sharon had decided to let Andy sleep. They had gone out to pick up lunch instead. Saturday morning traffic had them running behind schedule, however.

Andy carried the two takeout bags while Sharon carried the plates and cutlery. He was teasing her, as they stepped outside, that the kids were old enough now to amuse themselves while they snuck back upstairs and he showed her how much he liked that dress.

"They may be adults," Sharon pointed out, "but I rarely trust them to be on their own, especially when they're together."

He gazed over her shoulder at the three young adults that were gathered around the table. "Good point."

While their parents arranged lunch on the table, a simple fair of soup, sandwiches, and pasta salad, the three of them exchanged a look. They waited until their parents had taken their seats, beside one another, before anyone voiced the questions on their mind.

It was Ricky that went first. He gripped the arms of his chair. "Okay," he began, "which one of you is dying?"

"Ricky!" His dad glared at him.

Emily and Samantha looked at one another. They flipped a mental coin before Emily reached over and smacked the back of his head. "Do you have to be so morbid?"

"What?" Ricky rubbed the back of his head. "When is the last time they had all of us together? You know, _together_." He waved a hand at their parents. "I figure we were summoned here for a reason. Someone is either dying, getting married, or getting divorced. Dad isn't dating anyone, mom broke up with Brad, so…"

Andy huffed an irritated sigh. He cast a look at his wife. "You wanted a boy," he reminded her.

"I did." She cast an annoyed look at their youngest. "No one is dying, Richard." She crossed her legs and clasped her hands together in her lap. She waited while each of their three children relaxed. "However… someone is getting married."

Ricky made a face at his sisters. "Told ya."

"Ricky." His mother arched a brow at him. She waited for him to duck his head before she continued. "Your father and I asked all of you here because we would like to discuss that, and other changes, that have been taking place over the last few months."

"Obviously," Andy said, "your mom has moved back in. We've been doing a lot of talking the last couple of months, and I'm sure there is a lot of stuff that we still have to work on, but—"

"Wait a minute." Emily sat forward in her seat. "Are you telling me that we're here because you two are back together?" She looked utterly horrified at the thought. There was nothing more about her childhood that she remembered more prominently than her parents arguing and breaking up. They had always seemed much happier apart.

"Huh." Sam wasn't expecting that. She knew her dad had seen a lawyer a few months ago. She was prepared for them to announce a divorce. She shrugged. "Okay, but you're already married. This couldn't have been a conference call?" She was trying to downplay it, even if she was smiling brightly at the two of them.

"Are you serious?" Emily glared at her sister. "How can you be happy about this? You know what they were like. Daddy, I love you, but no. This is not good. This is the exact opposite of good."

"Why not?" Ricky rolled his eyes at her. He tore off a corner of his sandwich and shoved it into his mouth. His parents were split up for as long as he could remember. That was the official story, anyway. "They've been boning for years."

This time it was Samantha that leaned over and smacked the back of his head. "Dude. Gross. Chew with your mouth closed." While Emily might be in denial, she had known about that too. Their parents weren't very good at breaking up. They had been sneaking back and forth for years. Did her sister really think that the number of times they caught their dad sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night was because he swung by to drop off something that one of them forgot? Before they moved, Nicole and Ricky used to take turns running the betting pool on whether or not they would ever get back together.

"Why are you two always hitting me?" Ricky complained. He shook his finger at them. "Violence is never the answer. Mom, I'm going to need a use of force investigation on this one," he hooked a thumb at Samantha, the only one of them who had followed their parents into law enforcement.

Sharon rolled her eyes skyward and took a deep breath. Her husband was laughing. "Well, for one thing, Ricky, it would be hard to open an investigation on my own daughter. That isn't exactly ethical, and secondly, it has always been my practice to never hold my fellow officers accountable for the actions that are deemed justified. Besides, your sister works in the DA's office. She is outside my jurisdiction."

Samantha smiled smugly at him. When she lifted her hand again, Ricky pointed a finger at her. His dark eyes narrowed. "Do it again, and I will forget that I am supposed to treat you like a lady." His nose wrinkled. "Even if you are just a sister."

Her brow arched at him. "You get that you're seriously outnumbered, right? You always were, little brother."

Sharon cast a look at her husband. "They're both yours, there's no denying it." There was amusement in her gaze.

Andy rolled his eyes at her. "They're always mine when they misbehave..."

"Because my little darlings-"

"Would never behave like this," he finished for her. Andy made a face at his wife. "We'll discuss it later. Pretty sure they get this all from you. You're the stubborn one in this relationship."

"Hm." Sharon smiled sweetly at him. She swept a lock of hair away from her face and bumped her foot against his leg. "I'm looking forward to it," she drawled.

"I'm gonna be sick." Ricky sank lower in his chair.

"I think I'm going to join you." Emily still had her arms folded across her chest. "How long is it going to last this time? A Month? A year? How long before we all get to ignore the cold silences because you can't even be bothered to argue properly. Then what? You guys split up again, but I guess we shouldn't feel too bad, because at least this time we won't be shuffled back and forth like the shared consolation prize."

"Look Em," Andy leaned toward their eldest daughter. "I know we messed up. We _both_ messed up." That was something that he and Sharon had spent a long time talking about. His addiction was his responsibility, but a marriage couldn't be saved or destroyed by one person alone. "The thing is, sweetheart, your mom and I are not getting any younger. It's taken us a long time to figure out where we want this to go, probably a lot longer than it should've, but in a choice between finally ending it for good and trying to make it work…"

"We're choosing to make it work," Sharon finished for him. Andy's fingers wrapped around hers and she gave his hand a squeeze. They had tried so hard while they were separated to make sure that the children knew they were loved by both of their parents, but they had still managed to hurt them. She looked at him, and knew that his sad smile was reflected on her own face. They weren't the only ones who bore the scars of distance and heartache. "We discussed divorce and we came closer than I would like to admit. The thing is, we didn't ask you here for your blessing, Emily. We asked you here so that we could tell you all, in person, that your father and I are renewing our vows."

"Any excuse for a party, huh mom?" Ricky smirked at her. That sense of occasion was legendary by now. "What's the big deal, though? You're already married."

"True." Sharon exchanged another look with her husband. She smiled when he did, this one filled with hope. "But we can't go backward. So we're going forward instead. That means renewing the vows that we both walked away from. We said for better or worse, and we were very good at _better_. It was the rest that we had a little trouble with. We're working on that now."

Andy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. His thumb traced the curve of her jaw. "Better late than never," he said gruffly. The past couldn't be undone. They couldn't fix their mistakes. They could just learn from them. Marriage counseling was something else that they were doing. It was something that they probably should have done a long time ago. It gave them a neutral place to discuss all of the things that had torn them apart, all of the hurts and fears, so that they didn't repeat any of the mistakes they made before. It was working, better than either of them could have imagined, otherwise they would not have summoned their children home.

 _Home_.

They were planning another remodel. The downstairs bedroom was going to be converted into an office. Their children were grown with homes of their own. Two guestrooms would be plenty enough space for when they visited, even if there were grandchildren later. They would make it work.

Andy winked at his wife. "I told you that we should've just gone back upstairs. They only came for the food anyway."

Emily folded her arms across her chest. "What do grandpa and gram have to say about this?" She couldn't imagine that her grandparents were exactly pleased with the idea.

He felt his frustration rising with their eldest. To think, Emily was his favorite. Andy shook his head at her. "I've always been their favorite son-in-law," he joked, "what do you think they said about it?" Andy reached for the tea pitcher and poured two glasses, one for himself and the other for Sharon. He passed one of them to her, and ignored the fact that she was laughing at his quip, before he turned his attention back to their kids. "Look, guys, we aren't asking for permission here. Your mom already told you that. It's happening."

"Just for the record," Ricky asked around another bite. "No one is pregnant, right?" He scooted back, out of either sister's reach. "I'm just covering all my bases, okay?"

Sharon dropped a lemon slice into her glass. "Not this time," she drawled happily.

"What?" Emily's jaw dropped open.

"Honey, come on, we all know that you were in the oven when they got married. Why do you think they got married?" Sam laughed at her. "Oh god, her face. Look at her face."

"Don't worry, Rick." Andy nodded at his son. "Took care of that a long time ago. You were the straw that shut this factory down."

"Samantha." Sharon cast a warning look at her youngest daughter. "Please don't aggravate an already difficult situation. Emily…" She sighed. "I respect your reservations, even if I am dismayed by it. I hope that you can respect our choice, even if you don't want to accept it." She had hoped that they would all be happy about this.

Emily sighed. It was the sadness in her mother's tone that was her undoing. Her shoulders slumped. "It's not that, mom. I just don't want to see the two of you get hurt again. I remember what it was like after you split up, that's all. I'm just afraid that the two of you aren't good for each other."

She was eight, almost nine when they separated. Sharon supposed that of all of them, Emily would remember the end better than she remembered the beginning. Sharon stood up and walked around the table. She laid an arm around Emily's shoulders and pulled her girl in to her side. "I appreciate that, Emily. I sincerely do, but I love him."

"I know." It was the reason her mother had never moved on. Emily wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and hugged her back. "Do Charlie and Nicole know about any of this?"

"Keeping Nicole from telling any of you has been the hardest part," Sharon admitted.

"She's planning the renewal dinner." Andy rolled his eyes. Somehow his eldest daughter had inherited his wife's sense of occasion, in spite of the fact that she didn't belong to Sharon. "Charlie will be down here tonight," he continued. "He's driving down." His son lived in Sacramento. Charlie had gone to college because his mother asked him to, but then he had joined the fire department. He was a paramedic.

"Oh, great." Emily rolled her eyes. She sat back in her chair when her mother moved away. "Charlie and Ricky in the same house. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to _that_." She could handle both of her brothers, when they were alone. It was when they were together that they were the bane of her existence.

Samantha smiled widely at her. The grin was all Flynn. "Have fun with that, Em."

Sharon arched a brow. She moved to reclaim her seat, but Andy pulled her onto his lap instead. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders as she settled against him. "Samantha, I am certain that your sister would appreciate it if you kept her company this weekend."

Emily laughed when her sister's face fell. "That chic little loft in downtown isn't saving you now, little sister."

When their kids began to bicker, Sharon looked down at her husband. "You were saying something about going upstairs?"

"I was." His hand moved to her hip. "It's not too late. They've got food. There's a hose in case Ricky tries to burn the place down. They'll be fine."

"Hm." She lowered her head pressed a light kiss to his lips. "It isn't the worst idea that I've heard today."

"Oh, I'm full of all kinds of ideas," he promised with a grin. "Wanna hear about them?"

She hummed again and cupped his face in her hands. This kiss brought another round of exclamations and bickering from their three kids. It was only going to get louder when the older two joined them. Sharon grinned against his mouth, laughing when someone, probably Ricky, began flicking liquid at them.

Sharon lifted her head. Her husband's dark eyes were sparkling brightly up at her. She kissed the tip of his nose before she leaned against him again. The kids would need to be chastised, and he was already working on that. Parenting together was something that they had always done well. Sharon sighed happily and stroked the back of his neck.

Life was always changing. It wasn't a fairytale. No one could go back in time and repair the damage of their mistakes once it was created. They could only move forward and hope for better. The past was complicated, and the future was wide open. She and Andy had created a life together, and it had broken. They could put the pieces back into place, but it would always be different. Sometimes, if the glue held, what was once broken would be even stronger.

The life they had before was a foundation. It couldn't be relived. It could only be expanded. Sharon felt like they were happier, stronger for that. They weren't the same people they had been then. They had both grown and changed. She was enjoying getting to know who he was now. She liked who they were together.

It was like a ripple effect. One choice could change everything. Andy's letter had given her the courage to realize that she was running. Sharon left him because she was afraid to lose him. In letting her go, he had gotten her back. Andy would do what it took to make her happy, but now he realized what he had missed before. They were a team. He was not solely responsible for everything. They were in this together. He was wrong about one thing, though.

Together was exactly where they were both meant to be.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:** Obviously there was no Rusty, because Sharon wasn't there to take him in. Don't worry. In my mind, Julio took care of it. He's very happy, taken care of, and well-behaved.


End file.
